From chicagotribune.com, October 3, 2008, by Aamer Madhani:
NEW YORK — Expressing confidence his country is facing a diminished military threat, Iran's top diplomat said Thursday that Tehran remains committed to its nuclear development program despite international pressure to abandon its uranium enrichment.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki contended that the danger of an Israeli airstrike on Iran's nuclear facilities is waning as the United States—Israel's closest ally — finds itself mired in an economic crisis and Israel is roiled by its own domestic political troubles.
Mottaki's comments came during a 30-minute interview with the Tribune less than a week after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling on Iran to comply with international efforts to monitor its nuclear development program.
The resolution, which includes no sanctions, followed an International Atomic Energy Agency report last month criticizing Iran for its lack of cooperation and suggesting that it might be concealing military research linked to the nuclear program.
...Mottaki said during the interview in the offices of Iran's permanent mission to the UN."The current conditions do not allow Mr. Bush to engage in another misadventure."...
... Mottaki said Iran remains committed to producing its own nuclear fuel. ...He said military action by the Israelis "was really no longer in play."
The Israelis reportedly conducted military rehearsals for a potential strike against Iran in June, but the foreign minister said his country's sworn enemy is still reeling from its war in southern Lebanon in 2006 and would not dare strike Iran."They are still contending with and suffering from the reverberations or aftershocks of the 33-day war in Lebanon," Mottaki said.
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