Iran says will strike US, Israel if attacked

Iran will strike US interests around the world and Israel if attacked over its disputed nuclear program, a senior official was quoted on Thursday by the official IRNA news agency as saying.

"Nowhere would be safe for America with (Iran's) long-range missiles ... We can fire tens of thousands of missiles every day," said Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr, the deputy interior minister of security affairs.

"With long-range missiles Iran can also threaten Israel as America's ally." Iran says its Shahab-3 missile with a range of 1,250 miles is capable of hitting Israel and US bases in the Gulf.

The West fears Iran wants to make an atomic bomb but Tehran says its atom activities are aimed only at generating electricity. The United States says it wants a diplomatic solution to the dispute, but has not ruled out military action.

Optimism in Turkey  

Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Thursday that talks with a senior EU official had brought them closer to "a united view" of how to break a deadlock over Tehran's defiance of a UN Security Council demand to freeze uranium enrichment.

Ali Larijani said he felt that "in some areas we are approaching a united view," adding: "We are aiming to reach out for a common paradigm."

Javier Solana, the European Union's top foreign policy official, was upbeat after a breakfast meeting with Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister.

"We had a good meeting," Solana told reporters. "We cannot make miracles, but we tried to move …the (nuclear) dossier forward."