THREATS FROM IRAN:Leader Says Country Will Level Cities if Israel Attacks

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  In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office on Thursday, March 21, 2013, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to a crowd in northeastern Iran on the first day of the new Persian calendar year.AP/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader

Iran's leader said in a speech that the country would annihilate the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it were attacked by Israel, and criticized the U.S. over nuclear talks.

The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all key decisions in Iran, says Israel is too small to be called an enemy, and that the United States is the "center of animosity" toward the Islamic republic.

"Sometimes, leaders of the Zionist regime threaten us. They threaten to take military action. They are not in the size to be put in the list of Iranian nation's enemies," Khamenei said in comments broadcast live on state TV.

In a strong warning to Israel, Khamenei said that if Israel attacked Iran, the "Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground."

He made the comments on Thursday to a crowd in northeastern Iran on the first day of the new Persian calendar year. His speech in the city of Mashhad was broadcast live on state radio.

Israel, which is believed to have the only nuclear weapons arsenal in the Mideast, has threatened to take military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to stop Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

In the speech, Khamenei said he's not opposed to direct talks with the U.S. to resolve its nuclear standoff with the West.

But he added that he's not optimistic that such talks would yield results unless Washington stops imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"The Americans constantly send messages to us through various ways, saying let's hold (bilateral) talks on the nuclear issue," Khamenei said. "I'm not optimistic on these talks. Why? Because our previous experiences show that dialogue, in the logic of American gentlemen ... means let's sit down and talk so that you (Iran) accept our views. This is not dialogue. This is imposition and we won't give in to it."

Iran is living under stepped-up Western sanctions that include a total oil embargo and banking restrictions that make it increasingly difficult for Iran's Asian customers to pay for oil deliveries. Iran's income from oil and gas exports has dropped by about 50 percent as a result of sanctions.

Khamenei said the U.S. has sent messages to Tehran, sometimes in writing, saying it is willing to hold bilateral talks with Tehran separately from the negotiations Iran is holding with five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.

"I'm not optimistic about these talks, but I'm not opposed to it either," he said.

However, Khamenei said the best way to resolve the standoff would be for the West to recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium and agree to a monitoring process to ensure that it won't be used for weapons.

"Iran only wants that the world recognize its enrichment right which is its natural right," he said.

Khamenei said there is no reason why Tehran should trust the U.S. when Washington doesn't trust Tehran.

"We have repeatedly told you that we are not after nuclear weapons. You say you don't believe us. Why should we believe you? When you are not ready to accept an honest and logical remark, why should we accept your words that have been disproved many times?" he asked.

Khamenei alleged that the U.S. wants the nuclear issue to remain unresolved so it will continue to have basis for the sanctions, which he said have harmed, but not crippled the Iranian economy.

"Yes, sanctions have had an effect. If they (U.S.) want to be happy, let them be," he said.

"Our economy suffers from the problem of being dependent on oil," he said. "We have to distance our economy (from oil dependence)."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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WILL IT END THREATS? UN Security Council OKs Tough N. Korea Sanctions

UNITED NATIONS –  The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, and a furious Pyongyang threatened a nuclear strike against the United States.

The sanctions drafted by North Korea's closest ally, China, and the United States send a powerful message that the international community condemns the ballistic missile and nuclear tests -- and repeated violation of Security Council resolutions.

"Adoption of the resolution itself is not enough," China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said. "We want to see full implementation of the resolution." Li also urged calm and a resumption of the stalled six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

"The top priority now is to defuse the tensions, bring down heat ... bring the situation back on the track of diplomacy, on negotiations."

Immediately before the vote, an unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors" because Washington is "set to light a fuse for a nuclear war."

The statement was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, which issued no immediate comment after the Security Council vote.

In North Korea, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd of tens of thousands that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington, which "will be engulfed in a sea of fire."

The White House responded by saying the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself against a North Korea ballistic missile attack.

Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the U.S. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.

The United States has long been concerned that North Korea could eventually pose a missile threat to U.S. territory. It was mainly with such a potential threat in mind that the Defense Department first began to operate a ground-based missile defense system in late 2004.

The United States responded to North Korea's threat saying it will take the necessary steps to defend itself and its allies.

"Taken together, these sanctions will bite, and bite hard," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said after the vote. "They increase North Korea's isolation and raise the cost to North Korea's leaders of defying the international community."

South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said North Korea's threats and inflammatory statements will be dealt with "resolutely."

"North Korea must wake up from its delusion of becoming a ... nuclear weapons state and make the right choice," he said. "It can either take the right path toward a bright future and prosperity, or it can take a bad road toward further and deeper isolation and eventual self-destruction."

Tensions have escalated following a rocket launch by Pyongyang in December and its third nuclear test on Feb. 12. Both acts defied three Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs.

The resolution is the fourth sanctions resolution against North Korea since its first nuclear test in 2006.

It condemns the North's third nuclear test in February "in the strongest terms" for violating and flagrantly disregarding council resolutions. It bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests "or any other provocation" and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It condemns all of North Korea's ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment.

But the resolution also stresses the council's commitment "to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution" to North Korea's nuclear program and urges a resumption of six-party talks.

It strengthens inspections of suspicious cargo heading to and from the country, calls on states to step up "vigilance" of possible illegal activity by North Korean diplomats and reiterates the council's commitment to a diplomatic solution. In a measure targeted at the reclusive nation's ruling elite, the resolution bans all nations from exporting expensive jewelry, yachts, luxury automobiles and racing cars to the North.

The U.N. resolution identifies three individuals, one corporation and one organization that will be added to the U.N. sanctions list. The targets include top officials at a company that is the country's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organization responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.

The success of a new round of sanctions could depend on enforcement by China, where most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based.

According to the resolution, all countries would now be required to freeze financial transactions or services that could contribute to North Korea's nuclear or missile programs.

To get around financial sanctions, North Koreans have been carrying around large suitcases filled with cash to move illicit funds. The resolution expresses concern that these bulk cash transfers may be used to evade sanctions.

The resolution also bans all countries from providing public financial support for trade deals, such as granting export credits, guarantees or insurance, if the assistance could contribute to the North's nuclear or missile programs.

It includes what a senior diplomat called unprecedented new travel sanctions that would require countries to expel agents working for sanctioned North Korean companies.

The resolution also requires states to inspect suspect cargo on their territory and prevent any vessel that refuses an inspection from entering their ports. And a new aviation measure calls on states to deny aircraft permission to take off, land or fly over their territory if illicit cargo is suspected to be aboard.

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'TOUGHEST' YET: US Pushes Sanctions Amid New North Korea Threats

The United States, dealing with an increasingly belligerent North Korea under the leadership of the impetuous Kim Jong-un, moved Tuesday through the U.N. framework to tighten sanctions on the regime -- with the goal of reining in Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. 

The move came as Pyongyang threatened, in retaliation, to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War. The Korean People's Army Supreme Command warned of "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula. 

Pyongyang was evidently agitated with the resolution, which was backed by its ally China and described by U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice as "some of the toughest sanctions" ever imposed by the U.N. 

"The sanctions contained in this draft resolution will significantly impede North Korea's ability to develop further its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Rice said, adding that they would "demonstrate clearly to North Korea the continued costs of its provocations." 

She said the international community is "united and very firm in its opposition to North Korea's illicit nuclear and missile programs." 

The proposed resolution, worked out by Rice and China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong over the last three weeks, reflects the growing anger of the U.N.'s most powerful body at North Korea's defiance of three previous sanctions resolutions that demanded a halt to all nuclear and missile tests. 

This one pledges additional measures if Pyongyang keeps ignoring the council with new tests, Rice said. North Korea's latest test was in February. 

With the support of China, the North's closest ally, the proposed resolution is not expected to face serious opposition, though council members will send it to their capitals for review. 

"We hope for unanimous adoption later this week," Rice said. 

The draft resolution targets for the first time the illicit activities of North Korean diplomats, the country's illicit banking relationships and its illegal transfers of bulk, Rice said. It also adds new travel restrictions. 

Before the U.N. meeting, and as word emerged of the U.S.-China proposal, Pyongyang threatened to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War. 

Hours after North Korea carried out its third atomic blast on Feb. 12, all 15 council members approved a press statement condemning the nuclear test and pledging further action. 

The sanctions have been aimed at trying to derail the country's rogue nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. In addition to barring North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology, they also ban it from importing or exporting material for these programs. 

North Korea's neighbors and the West condemn the North's efforts to develop long-range nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States as a serious threat to Northeast Asia's delicate security and a drain on the precious resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people. 

North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to U.S. hostility that dates back to the Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war. 

North Korea says Washington and others are going beyond mere economic sanctions and expanding into blunt aggression and military acts. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said President Obama and the American people would like to see North Korea's leader promote peace and engage in talks. 

"Rather than threaten to abrogate and threaten to move in some new direction, the world would be better served ... if he would engage in a legitimate dialogue, legitimate negotiations, in order to resolve not just American concerns, but the concerns of the Japanese and the South Koreans and the Russians and the Chinese, everybody in the region," Kerry said in Doha, Qatar. "That's our hope." 

The North's latest nuclear test was seen as a crucial step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States. Many outside analysts still believe the North hasn't achieved such a miniaturization technology. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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