Iran threatens any country willing to attack it

Iran threatened to target any country which will take part in attacks against its soil, the deputy Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday. Already on Friday, Iran’s supreme clerical leader threatened reprisals after the EU embargo on Iranian oil and the US Defence Secretary was quoted as saying Israel was likely to bomb Iran within months to stop the country's production of nuclear weapons. Gen Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force warned Iran’s neighbours not to let their territory or airspace be used as a base for an attack. “Any place where enemy offensive operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran originate will be the target of a reciprocal attack by the Guard’s fighting units,” Gen Salami said according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference attended by top world policymakers, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said an attack would be a "disaster" and the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme could be ended very rapidly. "If there is strong political will and mutual confidence being established, this issue could be resolved in a few days," he said. "The technical disputes are not so big. The problem is the lack of mutual confidence and strong political will." Davutoglu added: "A military option will create a disaster in our region. Before such a disaster happens, everybody must be take negotiations extremely seriously. We hope soon both sides will meet again, but this time there will have to be a final result." For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned his officials to stop “blabbing” about the possibility of an attack targeting Iran's nuclear program, the newspaper Maariv reported on Monday. Netanyahu is said to have directed the instruction at a number of military officials and government ministers who he believes have been speaking too freely about a potential Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. The newspaper, quoting unnamed senior officials, said Netanyahu delivered the warning during a meeting with ministers from his Likud party on Sunday. “Stop blabbing, already,” he reportedly told the officials. “This chit-chat causes huge damage, puts Israel on the front line, and damages sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe on Iran," the premier reportedly said. Maariv’s sources said there was concern that Israel “might be perceived as dragging the US into a war with Iran against its will and endangering the US national interests.” On Sunday Israel appointed a new air force chief who last month, in his position as top military planner, warned publicly that Israel could not deal a knock-out blow to its enemies, including Iran, in any regional conflict.