TEHRAN, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- An Iranian official warned Sunday that his country would react immediately to any attacks on it, including its nuclear facilities.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini appeared to be responding to a report in the London Sunday Times that Israel was preparing for an air strike to knock out the Iranian nuclear facilities.
Hosseini said that "Israel's possible attack on Iranian nuclear facilities will not affect the will of the people of Iran to continue civilian nuclear activities," the Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported from the Iranian capital.
"According to Hosseini, any aggression against Iran will not be left unanswered and the aggressor will instantly regret about its actions," the RIA Novosti report said.
The Sunday Times report said the Israeli Air Force was preparing to strike up to three nuclear facilities in Iran, possibly even using low-yield nuclear weapons. However, the Israeli government immediately denied the report.
International tensions over the Iranian nuclear issue have risen ever since Iran made clear it would not adhere to the demands of a United Nations Security Council resolution passed on Dec. 23 that requested all U.N. member nations to end their trade in nuclear technology with Tehran.
In his comments Sunday, Iranian spokesman Hosseini added that his country would continue work with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is based in Vienna, Austria, under the guidelines established by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
