Iran military chief: Our missiles can hit Israeli nuclear sites

Iranian missiles can reach Israeli nuclear sites, a top military commander said on Wednesday, amid persistent speculation that Israel could target facilities involved in Iran's atomic work.

"All the nuclear facilities in different parts of the land under the occupation of the Zionist regime are in the reach of Iran's missile defenses," the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

Iranian officials often refer to Israel's government, which Tehran does not recognize, as the "Zionist regime."

Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would welcome talks with the U.S. - but only if there was mutual respect. Iranian officials have said that means the U.S. needs to stop accusing Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism, charges Tehran has denied.

On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad urged the United States to change its satanic ways if it is serious about wanting change.

"Change means giving up your satanic, coercive and aggressive ways and instead adopting more human morals. ... If you accept this invitation, it will be to the benefit of yourself and your nation," Ahmadinejad told a crowd in northwestern Iran. He did not mention Obama by name but was clearly referring to the new president's administration.

Those demands could help explain why U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday in a visit to Jerusalem that Obama's attempts to reach out to Iran have so far been unsuccessful. She reassured her Israeli hosts that U.S. diplomacy should not be confused with softness, saying Washington remained committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and funding terrorism.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Iran's top authority said that U.S. President Barack Obama was pursuing the same "wrong path" as George W. Bush in supporting Israel, which he called a "cancerous tumor."

The comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on policy in the Islamic Republic, are likely to disappoint the new U.S. administration which wants to engage Iran but has called on Tehran to "unclench its fist."

"Even the new president of America, who has come to power with slogans about changing Bush's policies, is defending state terrorism by talking about unconditional commitment to Israel's security," Khamenei said.

Khamenei, speaking at a conference on the Palestinian issue in Tehran, said Obama was following the same "wrong path" of his predecessor in the White House.

Iran is one of the most important political and financial supporters of Hamas, which the U.S. and many European countries consider a terrorist group.

Hamas' most powerful official in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, attended Wednesday's conference in Tehran, which Iranian state television said would focus on how to provide assistance to the Palestinians.

The United States has long called on Iran to end its opposition to peace-making in the Middle East and to stop supporting organisations like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas group that Washington considers terrorist.

Iran says these groups are fighting an illegal occupation on Palestinian land and does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

One Iranian analyst said Khamenei may be restating Iran's tough line to make clear Tehran would not easily give up regional policies that could be bargaining chips in any talks.

"He is saying you also have to change if you want us to change," said the analyst, who asked not be named. "Iran cannot afford letting go of its regional policies. It cannot happen that easily."

Breaking with Bush, Obama's administration has talked of engaging with Iran on a range of issues including its disputed nuclear ambitions. But a senior U.S. official said Monday that it was doubtful Iran would respond to any offers of engagement when they are made.

Ultimately, any decision will depend on Khamenei, who has so far not directly addressed the issue of Obama's overtures but has in the past said U.S. governments could not be trusted.

"Another big mistake is to say that the only way to save the Palestinian nation is by negotiations," Khamenei said.

"Negotiations with whom? With an occupying and bullying regime, who does not believe in any other principle other than force? ... Or negotiations with America and Britain who committed the biggest sin in creating and supporting this cancerous tumor ... ?" he added.

"The way to salvation [for Palestinians] is standing firm and resisting," the supreme leader said.

Khamenei also said the Holocaust, in which six million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis, was used to "usurp" Palestinian land and said the West and Israel showed the weakness of their cause by not allowing anyone to question the Holocaust.

Ahmadinejad, who previously caused Western ire by saying the Holocaust was a "myth", said: "The story of the Holocaust, a nation without a homeland and a homeland without a nation ... are the big lies of our era."

"The continuation of the Zionist regime even on one inch of the land of Palestine, because of the nature of that regime, means the continuation of crime, occupation, threat and insult to the nations," the president told the conference.

He repeated a call for a referendum among Palestinian Muslims, Jews and Christians around the world to determine what government to establish on all land that now includes Israel.

	Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, greeting Hamas leader Khaled Meshal in Tehran in February.
	Photo by: Reuters