Iran warns West not to 'play with a lion's tail'

BERLIN: As Iran's top nuclear negotiator met the German foreign minister here, the Iranian president warned the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday against imposing more sanctions over its nuclear work, saying it was like "playing with a lion's tail."

The meeting in Berlin between the Iranian negotiator, Ali Larijani, and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, coming two weeks after a negative UN nuclear watchdog report on Iran that could trigger tougher sanctions, ended without any sign of a breakthrough.

Asked whether progress had been made in his meeting with Larijani, Steinmeier replied: "I cannot say that." He added: "I cannot tell you whether we will come to a result."

The meeting came after talks in Madrid last week between Larijani and the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, that yielded no headway in resolving the core dispute: Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition for negotiations on trade benefits.

The meeting also came on the eve of a Group of 8 summit meeting in the German resort of Heiligendamm, where leaders of the world's industrialized nations will discuss what "steps should be taken next" on Iran, among other issues, a senior German official said.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was too late for anyone to reverse Iran's nuclear course, which Tehran says is a peaceful quest for electricity, not for atom bombs. "They should be aware that Iran is a big country," he told visiting foreign journalists in Tehran. "Some say Iran is like a lion sitting calmly in the corner. We advise them not to play with a lion's tail."

Iran's nuclear program, he added, "has passed the point where they stop it," referring to Western nations.

The Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions since December and Washington says Iran faces a harsher resolution since the UN International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Tehran was rapidly expanding its uranium enrichment work.

Ahmadinejad said the Security Council should avoid what he termed illegal measures against Iran. "They observed that previous sanctions had no effect on Iran's nuclear activities and we have told them not to enter this path. They cannot harm our nation."

Iranian officials have repeatedly shrugged off the impact of sanctions, one of whose targets is a major Iranian state bank. Although sanctions are narrowly focused, economists say they are now deterring both foreign and local investors.

Ahmadinejad's comments Tuesday came a day after he was rebuked by France and Spain for saying that a "countdown button" had been pressed to bring about Israel's destruction.

Ahmadinejad's remarks, which came in a speech Sunday, were reminiscent of his comment two years ago that Israel should be "wiped off the map," which caused outrage in the West.

In the speech Sunday, Ahmadinejad said the Palestinian and Lebanese people had pressed the button to lead to Israel's downfall. "With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine," he said.

He has often referred to the demise of Israel but has said that Iran does not pose a threat to it.