TEHRAN, Feb 11: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear programme.    

He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organised rallies to mark the occasion.

“In the coming days the world will witness Iran’s announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.

Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”. Ismail Haniya, who heads the Islamist Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, also attended the ceremony.

Ahmadinejad gave no details of how Iran’s nuclear work, which Tehran says has only peaceful purposes, has progressed.

The United States and Israel, a country which Iran does not recognise, have not ruled out military action if sanctions fail.

Iran has warned of a “painful” answer, saying it would hit Israel and US bases in the Gulf as well as block the vital Gulf oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

“If attacked by the Zionist regime (Israel), we will turn it to dust,” said a Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Shirdel, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

“Thousands of our missiles will target Israel and the 40 bases of America in the region,” he added.

The nuclear dispute has fuelled tension as the West tightens sanctions. The European Union has agreed to ban Iranian oil imports by July and to freeze the assets of Iran’s central bank. Its measures reinforce those imposed by the United States as the West tries to force Tehran to return to talks before it produces enough nuclear material for an atomic bomb.—Reuters