Tehran issues stark military warning to U.S.

In one of Iran's boldest challenges yet to the US, the Islamic regime has claimed it can defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive.

"You can start a war, but it won't be you who finishes it," General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, said.

"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error."

The US has accused Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development. Last weekend US news reports said President George Bush's administration was refining plans for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said.

"We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack."

On Friday senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati branded the US a "decaying power" lacking the "stamina" to block Iran's ambitions, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a US push for tough UN sanctions was of "no importance".

Asked to respond to comments by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlighting part of the UN charter that provides for sanctions backed up by the threat of military action, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "She is free to say whatever she wants. We give no importance to her comments."