Iran's army chief said today his forces had been told to make preparations for a possible attack by the United States on the Islamic Republic, which Washington has accused of supporting terrorism.
Joint chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi told local reporters Iran's top security decision-making body had recently discussed "enemy threats", state television said.
He said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader and chief commander of the armed forces, had told the army and the elite Revolutionary Guards to "get ready for two main tasks".
"The first is to make ready our arsenal for deterrent purposes. Secondly, if something comes up, we should be quickly able to punish the source of aggression," the general added.
The television said his remarks were in reaction to "recent US threats".
The United States has described Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, as part of an "axis of evil," accusing Tehran of backing terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction.
Some US officials and congressmen have called for a change of regime in Iran in response to what they see as President Mohammad Khatami's failure to bring in reforms.
But a US State Department official dismissed yesterday as "hypothetical" talk of a possible pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear plant in the southern port of Bushehr.
President Khamenei said last week his country would make the United States regret any attack on his country.