TEHRAN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday any country that tried to impose new sanctions on Iran would regret its actions, as the United States and Russia voiced shared concern about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad was speaking a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought oil giant Saudi Arabia’s support to help win Chinese backing for additional sanctions. Clinton said a new round of sanctions should target Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
“Iran will retaliate … of course, if somebody acts against Iran our response will definitely be firm enough…(to) make them regretful,” Ahmadinejad told a news conference, without elaborating. “Sanctions will not harm Iran.”
A joint letter from the United States, Russia and France expressed concern about Tehran’s nuclear work and said its decision to escalate uranium enrichment — rather than implement a nuclear fuel swap — was unjustified.
Ahmadinejad said talks were still under way on the proposed fuel exchange and the issue was not yet closed.
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