An Attack on Iran Would Imperil U.S. Interests, Top Leader Warns

TEHRAN — With a U.N. deadline looming for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment, Iran’s supreme leader warned the United States on Wednesday that his nation would hit back twice as hard if America attacked its nuclear sites.

Even as the threat was issued, Iran sent its top nuclear official to Vienna for talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

“The Americans should know that if they invade Iran, their interests around the world would be harmed,” supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a workers gathering for May Day, the international workers’ holiday, state television reported.

“Iran will respond twofold to any attack,” Khamenei said.

The U.S. has said that it has no plans to attack Iran but that all options remain on the table as it pursues a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s insistence on enriching uranium -- a process that can produce fuel for generators or material for bombs.

The U.N. Security Council has given Iran until Friday to suspend enrichment. If it does not, the council is likely to consider punitive measures. The IAEA is preparing a report on Iran’s compliance with the Security Council demand.

The United States has asked the Security Council to meet Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the report.

Although the IAEA has found no “smoking gun” proving Iran wants nuclear arms, a series of IAEA reports have revealed clandestine activities such as plutonium processing and drawings showing how to mold weapons-grade uranium metal into the shape of a warhead.

On Tuesday, Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani said that if the Security Council imposed sanctions, Iran would stop cooperating with the IAEA and conceal its nuclear activities.

Iran appears to be drawing strength for its defiance from the evident reluctance of Russia and China to endorse sanctions. The two powers hold vetoes on the Security Council.