Speaking during tour of southern Lebanon, Ahmadinejad’s press adviser says possible Iranian counterstrike would reach beyond ‘Zionist regime,’ include U.S. bases.

Israel is too weak to fulfill its threats against Iran, an adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a visit to southern Lebanon on Wednesday, adding that Iran’s counter attack in case of an assault against it would include U.S. targets.

A Yasser missile is displayed during Iranian army parade, marking national Army Day, in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khamenei near Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2011. Photo by AP

The Iranian official’s remarks came after, on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an apparent reference to the possibility of an attack of Iran’s nuclear facilities, said that Israel didn’t always heed to U.S. warnings against offensive action, citing such examples as the Six-Day War and the 1981 strike against an Iraqi nuclear reactor

Also on Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama said thatthe window for a diplomatic solution with Iran over its nuclear program was “shrinking,” urging Tehran to seize the opportunity of talks with world leaders to avert “even worse consequences.”

Speaking during a tour of the south Lebanon town of Maran al-Ras, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s press advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, played down the possibility of an Israelui strike on Iran, saying that the “Zionist regime is weaker than being able to fulfill its threats against Islamic Republic.”

“Iran is not afraid of any enemy, including the occupying force of Zionist regime,” Javanfekr was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Ahmadinejad’s press adviser also warned of the severity of a potential Iranian counterstrike, saying that the “consequences of any attack on Iran will not be limited to the Zionist regime and its allies, including the U.S. will be the target of Tehran’s reaction; Washington officials are well aware about the devastating answer of Iran to any aggression.”

On Thursday, an international network in control of the world’s largest financial messaging system announced intended to cut off Iranian banks targeted by European Union sanctions.

The move by SWIFT represents an unprecedented measure that will effectively prevent Iranian institutions from electronically transferring global funds.

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By Haaretz