BAGHDAD/TEHRAN, 18 July — A defiant Saddam Hussein vowed yesterday that the United States and its “stooges” would never defeat him, and warned exiled Iraqi opposition groups that they would remain at the mercy of Washington if it succeeded in bringing them to power. Saddam marked Iraq’s Revolution Day with a televised speech of defiance proclaiming that the United States and its allies would never be able to overthrow him. With the prospect of war getting increasingly stronger, Saddam insisted that the Iraqi armed forces were fully prepared and equipped to defend the country against an American led attack.
“Iraq will emerge eventually triumphant,” Saddam said in the 40-minute speech to mark the 34th anniversary of the coup that brought his Baath Party to power, and as the threat of a US military strike on Iraq looms larger. Saddam, who had survived the Gulf War when the US was led by the current “Temmuz (July revolution) returns to say to all evil tyrants and oppressors of the world: You will never defeat me this time. Never! Even if you come together from all over the world, and invite all the devils as well, to stand by you, support or incite you,” the Iraqi leader said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s national security chief said yesterday Tehran would defend its territory if attacked, as the nation readied for nationwide anti-US demonstrations tomorrow following Bush’s recent “interventionist” statements. “If a danger is threatening the country, we must join hands and face it,” Hassan Rowhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told reporters in Tehran.
“Iran is ready to defend its territory and independence,” Rowhani added, quoted by state radio, after Bush’s statement last week urging Tehran to abandon “uncompromising, destructive policies” and pledging that a reforming, modernizing Iran would have “no better friend” than the United States.
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said later yesterday the country would strike back “at the heart of the enemy” if attacked. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced Bush’s statement as “opportunistic and arrogant” and added that President Mohammed Khatami’s response was a “slap” in the face of the US leader. (The Independent)
