Iran warns U.S. forces after Obama win
1 hour 45 mins ago
Parisa Hafezi Print Story
Iran warned U.S. forces in Iraq on Wednesday that it would respond to any violation of Iranian airspace, a message analysts said seemed directed at the new U.S. president-elect more than neighbouring American troops. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends an official meeting with Sudan's Foreign …More Enlarge photo
Related content
Iran's new penal code unfair to women: Nobel laureate
Iran army warns US forces to steer clear of borders
Europe hopes for new era of cooperation with Obama
Related Hot Topic: Iran
Have your say: Iran
The Iranian army statement, reported by state radio, followed a cross-border raid last month by U.S. forces into Syria, a move that was condemned by Damascus and Tehran.
But an Iranian politician said the timing suggested it was directed at Barack Obama, who won Tuesday's U.S. vote, more than the U.S. military, and might reflect concern by hardliners in Iran who thrived on confrontation with Washington.
Obama has said he would toughen sanctions on Iran but has also held out the possibility of direct talks to resolve rows, which include a dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
"Recently it has been seen that American army helicopters were flying a small distance from Iraq's border with Iran and, because of the closeness to the border, the danger of them violating Iran's border is possible," state radio reported.
"Iran's armed forces will respond to any violation," radio said, citing a statement from Iran's army headquarters.
Washington, which has not had diplomatic ties with Tehran since 1980, has accused Iran of funding, equipping and training militants in Iraq. Iran denies this and says insecurity is due to the presence of U.S. troops who should quit Iraq.
"This is a clear message to the American president-elect because radicals are not very happy that Obama has been elected," said the Iranian politician, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
LOGGERHEADS
He said Iran could have chosen to pass such a message through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which handles U.S. interests in the absence of a U.S. mission. That route had been used in the past.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, the most senior official to comment on the U.S. election result so far, hoped Obama would distance himself from President George W. Bush's policies.
"The election of Barack Obama as America's president is a clear sign of the American people's wish and desire for fundamental changes in America's domestic and foreign policies," Mottaki told reporters, the IRNA news agency reported.
The two countries are at loggerheads over Iran's disputed nuclear work. Washington says Tehran is seeking an atomic bomb. Tehran says it wants the technology to make electricity and so it can export more of its vast oil and gas resources.
Obama, like Bush, has not ruled out military action although he has criticised the outgoing administration for not pushing for more diplomacy and engagement with Iran.
"Change of political figures is not important by itself. What is more important is a change of American policy," Ali Aghamohammadi, a close aide to Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Reuters.
Iran has warned it would respond to any attack on its territory by targeting U.S. interests and America's ally Israel, as well as closing the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway at the mouth of the Gulf and vital route for world oil supplies.
Some Iranians were enthusiastic about the U.S. vote.
"I hope that our relations with (America) will improve as Obama has talked of direct negotiations with the Iran," said Mona Saremi, a 22-year-old student.
But some analysts were cautious, saying Obama had to show he was offering more than a change in style from Bush. "It is for the Americans to show that something has changed, not the Iranians," Tehran University professor Mohammad Marandi said.
