Ahmadinejad, ahead of U.N. visit, has military warning

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran was stronger than ever and warned that its military would "cut the hand" of anyone who attacked. But a military parade at which he spoke was marred when an air force plane crashed, killing seven people, according to state radio.

State TV showed video footage of burning wreckage from the military plane surrounded by fire trucks in farmlands south of Tehran.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, but Iran's military and its civilian airlines have been plagued by lethal accidents. The crashes are attributed in part to U.S. sanctions that make it difficult for Iran to get spare parts, but experts have also said that airlines are strapped for cash and often have poor maintenance.

State radio and television did not specify the type of plane that crashed. Yesterday's air force show included U.S.-made jet fighters and bombers acquired by Iran before its 1979 revolution, as well as more recently acquired Russian aircraft and Iran's domestically built fighter, the Saeqeh, or Thunderbolt.

The air show was part of a military parade showing off antimissile and antiaircraft systems that Iran bought from Russia in 2007 to protect its nuclear facilities as well as Iran's array of missiles capable of striking Israel, the Mideast, and parts of Eastern Europe.

The parade marked the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, in which about one million people were killed.

Iran's military readiness is such that "no power dares imagine an invasion against Iran," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the parade.

"Our armed forces will cut the hand of anyone in the world before it pulls the trigger against the Iranian nation," he said.

The remark reflects Tehran's concerns that Israel or the United States could target it to try to take out its nuclear facilities. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies the allegation.

On Monday, Israel, Iran's archenemy, repeated that it was keeping "all options on the table," including military action, to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.

Ahmadinejad is preparing to appear today at the U.N. General Assembly and is expected to come under heavy pressure over the nuclear issue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will boycott that speech, Israeli officials said yesterday, adding that they hoped other world leaders would do the same.

Iran is also poised to enter negotiations with the United States and other powers seeking concessions on Iran's nuclear program at an Oct. 1 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The United States and its allies suspect that Tehran has enough enriched uranium to build a bomb, but Iran says the uranium is for generating electricity.

The European Union's chief negotiator, Javier Solana, said the six countries negotiating with Iran would remain firm at the Geneva meeting that Tehran must cease uranium enrichment. Solana said foreign ministers of the six - the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany - would hold preparatory talks today at the United Nations.

Yesterday's parade speech by Ahmadinejad was also meant to underline his strength amid domestic turmoil in which the pro-reform opposition has staged dramatic protests contending that his victory in the June 12 presidential vote was fraudulent.

In Geneva yesterday, U.S. diplomat Douglas M. Griffiths criticized Tehran before the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council, saying Iran's government "harshly repressed its people's right to freedom of assembly and expression, resulting in scores of deaths of protesters as well as hundreds of arrests" in the postelection clampdown.

Iran's police have banned

the use of curvaceous female mannequins and the sale of Western- inspired clothing in an effort to preserve morality.

"Displaying and supplying Western brands or items with cheap designs is forbidden in stores," the Information and Public Security Police said in a statement addressed to the head of Tehran's clothing retailers' group, the state-run Fars news agency reported.

There was no information

on any punishment for noncompliance.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when clerics rose to power 30 years ago, women have been required to cover their hair with scarves and obscure the shape of the body

with loose-fitting coats.

Two years ago, the government sought to force clothing shops to register their goods to ensure they met Islamic standards, a move that couldn't be fully enforced.

Police also announced a ban yesterday on male store clerks' handling items of women's underwear and prohibited the display of neckties, considered a Western garment, the news agency said.

- Bloomberg News

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