Defiant Iran threatens to ‘cut off hands of any aggressor’

PRESIDENT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that Iran would “cut off the hand of any aggressor” and insisted the country’s military must be prepared amid escalating tensions with the international community over its disputed nuclear programme.

The defiant stance came hours before a two-day meeting in Moscow of senior diplomats from the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany to discuss the issue and less than two weeks before a council deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment.

“Today, you are among the world’s most powerful armies because you rely on God,” Mr Ahmadinejad declared at a parade to commemorate Army Day.