TEHRAN, Feb 16, (Agencies): President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran’s arch-foe Israel was mulling starting a war “next spring or summer” but has yet to make a final decision.
Without specifying whom would be targeted, Ahmadinejad said: “According to information we have they (Israel) are seeking to start a war next spring or summer, although their decision is not final yet.”
“But the resistance and regional states will finish them if this fake regime does anything again,” the hardliner said at a press conference when asked about ongoing efforts to reconcile ties betwen Arabs and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is not planning a war with Iran, and has criticized Tehran’s talk of such a conflict as a reaction to the threat of tougher sanctions.
Israel has said it hopes diplomacy will resolve the nuclear standoff over Iran, but has not ruled out military action.

Netanyahu is in Moscow urging Russia to sign off on debilitating sanctions for Iran over its nuclear program.
He said at a briefing Tuesday that “we are not planning any wars.”
Russia has not ruled out tougher sanctions, but is dragging its heels over a move that could threaten its cordial relations with Tehran.
Iran has frequently mentioned it could suffer a military strike from Israel or its allies. Netanyahu dismissed such allegations as “manipulations.”
The White House on Tuesday would not rule out any options, including the military option, for dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: “I wouldn’t rule out anything.” He said Iran’s rejection of every attempt by the Obama administration for diplomatic engagement is proof that its nuclear program is “not of the means and type that they have tried to convince others that’s it’s for.”
 Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday the Shi’ite guerrilla group would hit Israel’s Ben Gurion airport if the Jewish state hit Beirut’s international airport in any future war.
“If you hit Rafik al-Hariri international airport in Beirut, we will hit Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv,” Nasrallah said via a live video-link.

“If you hit our ports, we will bomb your ports, and if you hit our oil refineries, we will bomb your oil refineries.”
The top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen warned on Wednesday that Iran was “becoming a nuclear weapons capable country” but did not rule out dialogue with the Islamic republic.
“They are on a path to becoming a nuclear weapons capable country and that is very dangerous... It is a very very bad outcome,” Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference in Jordan.
A military option was on the table, he said, while stressing that “dialogue” with Iran was also possible.
“The priority for President (Barack) Obama and his administration has been to initiate a dialogue and engagement (with Iran) while at the same time keeping all options on the table,” he said.
“When I say all options are on the table it certainly includes potential military options,” Mullen said.
At the same time the “window for engagement and dialogue is still there and that is the strength of our message.”
Mullen visited Iran’s arch-foe Israel before arriving in Jordan, where he met top officials including King Abdullah II.
Centrifuges
Iran’s president says his country is installing more advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment facility, a step certain to add to international concern over Tehran’s accelerating nuclear program.
Iran announced a week ago that it was enriching uranium to a higher level for use in fueling a reactor that produces medical isotopes. The new enrichment work is of major concern to the US and its allies because at higher levels the material can be used in nuclear warheads.
Ahmadinejad told a news conference the new centrifuges are not yet operational but are five times more efficient than an earlier model at its Natanz enrichment plant.
Ahmadinejad warned on Tuesday that world powers would regret any moves to slap new sanctions on Iran, while stressing that Tehran was still ready for a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal.
Ahmadinejad warned on Tuesday that world powers would regret any moves to slap new sanctions on Iran, while stressing that Tehran was still ready for a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal.
His latest salvo came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured the Gulf to seek backing for possible sanctions against Iran for defiantly pursuing its nuclear programme.
“If anybody seeks to create problems for Iran, our response will not be like before,” the hardline Iranian president told a packed news conference in Tehran.
“Something in response will be done which will make them (the world powers) regret” their move, he said.
Ahmadinejad said negotiations over a UN-drafted nuclear fuel exchange were “not closed yet,” and expressed readiness to buy the material even from Iran’s arch-foe the United States.
The United States, Russia and France on Tuesday said that Iran’s escalation of its uranium enrichment further undermines international trust in its nuclear drive.
The three powers sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressing new concern about Iran’s actions and signalling new pressure on the Islamic state.
“If Iran goes forward with this escalation, it would raise concerns about Iran’s nuclear intentions,” said the joint letter, which has been circulated to member states and a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
“Iran’s enrichment of its LEU (low-enriched uranium) stockpile to higher levels is not only unnecessary, but would serve to further undermine the confidence of the international community in Iran’s actions,” it said.

Weapon
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Saudi college students Tuesday that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon it could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
“Then you have all kinds of opportunity for problems that can be quite dangerous,” she said.
Clinton spoke at an all-women’s college in Jeddah called Dar al-Hekma, which translates in English to “House of Wisdom.” Her appearance at the college was highly unusual in a conservative Muslim nation.
Clinton ticked off a list of Iranian actions that she said violated its obligation not to pursue nuclear weapons, including construction of a uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom that came to light last fall.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘Why are they doing this?”’ Clinton said.
Noting that Iran insists it is not pursuing the bomb, she said, “The evidence doesn’t support that.”
“Everyone who I speak with in the Gulf, including the leaders here and leaders elsewhere in the region, are expressing deep concern about Iran’s intentions,” she said.
Saudi Arabia fueled doubts on Tuesday about whether it backs new UN sanctions to end the Iran nuclear crisis, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to return home.
Clinton defended the US-led push for tougher sanctions when she again charged that “evidence doesn’t support” Iran’s assertion that it is pursuing a peaceful atomic programme.
US officials travelling with Clinton on the mission to drum up support for tougher action against Iran expressed satisfaction and said they were “very pleased” following her lengthy talks with King Abdullah on Monday.

Hikers
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities are considering a request by the families of three detained American hikers to visit them in prison, Iran’s top human rights official said Tuesday.
Mohammad Javad Larijani — the secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights and a member of one of the country’s most influential families — said his office has recommended that the request be granted.
“We are working on that with the security people and judges,” he told reporters in Geneva. “We have recommended that the families should be able to see them, and I hope that this will be done.”
In a statement, the families welcomed the announcement.
Larijani said the Swiss ambassador in Tehran made the request to his office “about 2-3 weeks ago.” Switzerland has represented US consular interests in Iran since Washington and Tehran broke off diplomatic relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran’s top human rights official said Monday that anti-government protests should be allowed in his country because they are “natural” for a democratic state.
The comments stand in stark contrast to the government’s efforts to crack down on opposition groups protesting the outcome of last year’s presidential elections.
Hundreds of people have been arrested and dozens killed in street clashes between protesters and security forces in recent months. At least two protesters have been executed and several more death sentences have been announced, prompting harsh criticism of Iran by western governments and U.N. human rights officials.
“The opposition should be able to demonstrate,” said Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary-general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights. “We think that demonstrations and things like that are natural for a democratic state.”