Iran to 'blow up heart of Israel if attacked

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran issued another warning on Friday against any attack on the Islamic republic, while claiming its talks with world powers over its controversial nuclear programme were a success and a victory.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis deputy representative to the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, said Tehran will blow up the heart of Israel if attacked by the Jewish state or the US.
Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our land, before the dust is settled, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel, state news agency IRNA quoted Zolnour as saying.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said Tehran would carry out severe reprisals if Israel or the US attacked the country.
The US and its regional ally Israel have never ruled out a military option to stop Tehrans nuclear drive, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear weapons while Iran says it is solely for peaceful ends.
After the 1979 Islamic revolution, Tehran withdrew its recognition of Israel.
The Jewish state considers the Islamic republic to be its arch-enemy after repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Holocaust was a myth and that Israel is doomed to be wiped off the map.
Another Khamenei appointee and one of Tehrans Friday prayer leaders, Ahmad Khatami, also issued a stern warning to Irans enemies, without naming any.
As our leader has said, our enemies are pursuing an Iranophobia scenario against us, and they are saying Iran is against world peace. But the world has understood that what they say is a lie, Khatami told the faithful in a sermon broadcast live on state-run radio.
The enemy should know that if they want to hurt Iran they will receive such a slap that they will not be able to stand up, he added amid the chants of death to America and death to Israel.
Last month, Iran disclosed that it was building a second uranium enrichment plant, angering world powers and drawing an accusation from UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei that having kept the work secret was on the wrong side of the law.
Tensions increased only days later, and just days before crucial talks in Geneva with world powers over Tehrans controversial nuclear programme, when Tehran tested several short- and medium-range missiles.
Khatami labelled those talks a success and victory for the Islamic republic since even the Zionist and world arrogances media confirmed this.
We owe this success to the wise guidance of the supreme leader and the ninth and tenth governments following his guidance, he added in reference to Ahmadinejads previous and current administrations.