Iranian official says military attack impossible but ready for threat

A top Iranian nuclear official said on Wednesday that he believed the Western military attack on Iran' s nuclear facilities was "highly improbable", but his country was ready to face the threat, the local ISNA news agency reported.

"We believe bombing our nuclear facilities is highly improbable, however, we have already adopted necessary precautious measures for this (threat)," Mohammad Saeedi, deputy chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, was quoted as saying.

He stressed that Tehran would continue the nuclear program despite the possibility that UN Security Council may adopt even tougher resolution against Iran.

"UN Security Council cannot stop the Iranian people from chasing their objectives, even if worse resolutions are issued, we have already began our job and will continue to do it," said Saeedi, adding "the secret of Iranian nation's success is unity."

The UN Security Council last month passed the resolution 1737, imposing sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile program and urging Tehran to suspend the enrichment activities.

However, Iran rejected the request and vowed to install 3,000 centrifuges by March 2007.

The United States and Israel have never ruled out the possibility of military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. Recently, the U.S.-Iranian relations exacerbated after the arrest of Iranian diplomats by American forces in Iraq.

A Kuwaiti newspaper recently disclosed that the U.S. government had decided to launch attack against Iran from the sea before this April and will deploy PAC-3 anti-missile systems in Arab countries. But the White House has repeatedly denied such reports, saying the United States currently has no intention to attack Iran.