Commander: If Iran is attacked, Israel will be hit

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Israel will "definitely" face fierce retaliation if it attacks Iranian nuclear sites, the acting commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Thursday.

The remarks by Gen. Hossein Salami appear to be part of Iranian efforts to portray any strike against it as the trigger for a regional conflict that could draw in Iranian proxies, such as Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, on Israel's borders.

Iran's suspect nuclear program has topped the international agenda and pressures onTehran are mounting.

Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn't stop uranium enrichment — a process that can be a pathway to nuclear arms. The West and its allies fear Iran's ambitions mask a pursuit of atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, saying its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes such as power generation and cancer treatment.

Salami was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying Iran has prepared for "global battles."

"An attack by the Zionist regime would be an opportunity to destroy that regime," he said, speaking of Israel. "Their defense mechanism is not planned for big and long wars. Their threats are only psychological and if they cross the limit or act upon those threats, (Israel) will definitely be destroyed."

Salami spoke on the sidelines of urban combat drills in Tehran by some 15,000 paramilitary fighters known as Basiji, who are controlled by the Revolutionary Guard.

The exercises were dubbed "Ila Beit ol Moqaddas," or Toward the Holy City, meaning Jerusalem. The war games include drills on defending against mock air raids and other threats.

"We have prepared our security and defense infrastructures for global and big battles," Salami said. "There is no failure in our defense system."

He also reiterated statements by other Iranian officials who this week insisted that Iran can ride out Western economic pressures aimed at reining in the uranium enrichment.

"The Iranian nation will overcome the enemies' threats in the economic field," Salami said. "This is a battle. The Iranian nation will impose its will on its enemies."

The 27-member European Union on Monday banned imports of Iranian natural gas and imposed other restrictions on trade and financial dealings. The measures are in line with the West's two-pronged strategy that includes a mix of sanctions and diplomacy to try to force a halt to Tehran's uranium enrichment.

Violence breaks out at Greek anti-austerity demo

REFILE - CLARIFYING CAPTION INFORMATION ABOUT THE MARCH Flames from a molotov cocktail flare up near Greek riot police at an anti-austerity march in central Athens October 18, 2012. Greek police fired teargas to disperse anti-austerity protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs on the day of a general strike that brought much of the near-bankrupt country to a standstill. REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT CIVIL UNREST)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of youths pelted riot police with fire bombs, bottles and chunks of marble Thursday as yet another Greek anti-austerity demonstrationdescended into violence, less than a month after more intense clashes broke out during a similar protest.

Authorities said around 70,000 protesters took to the street in two separate demonstrations in Athens during the country's second general strike in a month as workers across the country walked off the job to protest new austerity measures the government is negotiating with Greece's international creditors.

Thursday's strike was timed to coincide with a European Union summit in Brussels later in the day, at which Greece's economic fate will likely feature large.

Riot police responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades in the capital's Syntagma Square outside Parliament as protesters scattered during the clashes, which continued on and off for about an hour. Another general strike in late September had also seen limited, but much more intense, clashes between protesters and police.

A 65-year-old protester suffered a fatal heart attack during the demonstration but efforts to revive him failed. The organizers of the protest march he participated in said the man had fallen ill before any rioting had broken out.

Four demonstrators were injured after being hit by police, volunteer paramedics said. The Health Ministry said two of the protesters were treated in hospital and that their injuries were not serious. Three policemen also required hospital treatment.

Hundreds of police had been deployed in the Greek capital ahead of the demonstration. Police said seven people were arrested Thursday, out of more than 100 detained.

The strike grounded flights, shut down public services, closed schools, hospitals and shops and hampered public transport in the capital. Taxi drivers joined in for nine hours, while a three-hour work stoppage by air traffic controllers led to flight cancellations. Islands were left cut off as ferries stayed in ports.

Athens has seen hundreds of anti-austerity protests over the past three years, since Greece revealed it had been misreporting its public finance figures. The country has been surviving since then with the help of two massive international bailouts worth a total €240 billion ($315 billion). To secure them, it has committed to drastic spending cuts, tax hikes and reforms, all with the aim of getting the state coffers back under some sort of control.

But while significantly reducing the country's annual borrowing, the measures have made the recession worse. By the end of next year, the Greek economy is expected to be around three quarters of the size it was in 2008. And with one in four workers out of a job, Greece has, along with Spain, the highest unemployment rate in the 27-nation European Union.

"We are sinking in a swamp of recession and it's getting worse," said Dimitris Asimakopoulos, head of the GSEVEE small business and industry association. "180,000 businesses are on the brink and 70,000 of them are expected to close in the next few months."

The country's four-month-old coalition government is negotiating a new austerity package with debt inspectors from the EU, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. The idea is to save €11 billion ($14.4 billion) in spending — largely on pensions and health care — and raise an extra €2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) through taxes.

"In 2011, only 20 percent of businesses were profitable," Asimakopoulos said. "So these new tax measures present small businesses with a choice: Dodge taxes or close your shop."

After more than a month and a half of arguing, a deal seems close. On Wednesday, representatives from the EU, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, said there was agreement on "most of the core measures needed to restore the momentum of reform" and that the rest of the issues should be resolved in coming days.

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Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, and Elena Becatoros and Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed.

Jordan's king warns of fallout from Syria conflict

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's King Abdullah II has warned of the "dangerous repercussions" from the Syrian conflict on countries across the Middle East.

A royal palace statement said Abdullah's warning came in a closed-door meeting with visiting Moroccan King Mohammed VI on Thursday. The Moroccan leader arrived in Jordan Wednesday for a three-day state visit.

Abdullah and other officials have expressed fears in the past that violence may spread to the 210,000-strong Syrian refugee community the kingdom hosts. Jordan is also worried that Syria's chemical weapons may fall into the hands of militants if the regime there falls.

Abdullah also said that hosting the refugees has strained Jordan's health care, water and electricity sectors, according to the statement.

He called for international contributions to enable Jordan to continue providing services to the refugees.

Iraq issues arrest warrant for central bank chief

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities have issued arrest warrants for the longtime governor of the central bank following allegations of financial wrongdoing, the country's judiciary said Thursday.

Allegations against Sinan al-Shabibi, who has led the bank since 2003, surfaced earlier this week while he was out of the country on official business. The charges are seen by the government's critics as an attempt to sideline the politically independent economist, and have been blasted as politically motivated by al-Shabibi's defense team.

Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar told The Associated Press that 15 bank officials are being sought along with al-Shabibi. He did not name the other officials or say what specific charges they face. Bayrkdar did not say when the warrants were issued.

Repeated efforts to contact the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for carrying out the arrests, were unsuccessful.

Lawyer Waleed Mohammed al-Shabibi, a relative of the bank governor who is on his legal team, said he is not aware of any arrest warrants and does not know what charges they include.

"We are told that the investigation is secret, and so far we are being kept in the dark," he said. "We demanded to know the details of the case, but up until now, we haven't gotten a clear answer."

The attorney earlier this week criticized the allegations as politically motivated. The government denies the charge.

In 2011, Iraq's Supreme Court ruled that the central bank and other previously independent bodies should be put under supervision of the Cabinet instead of parliament given that their decisions are executive in nature.

The decision was widely criticized as putting the nonpartisan nature of these bodies at risk. Among the critics was al-Shabibi himself, who considered it a threat to the country's assets abroad.

"Even if concerns that the move against Shabibi is politically motivated prove unfounded, Maliki's opponents will be wary that the prime minister could seize the opportunity to exert greater control over the (central bank)," said Jamie Ingram, a Middle East analyst at IHS Global Insight in London.

The allegations were raised by a special parliamentary committee formed to probe the bank. They surfaced while al-Shabibi was attending a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Tokyo. He is now believed to be in Europe, where it could be difficult for the government to arrest him.

Al-Shabibi and other officials are being investigated over allegations of financial irregularities involving the exchange of Iraqi dinars for hard currency. The central bankholds daily auctions of U.S. dollars to local banks, and aims to keep the dinar stable at close to 1,200 to the dollar.

Its efforts to stabilize the currency came under pressure earlier this year as the civil war in neighboring Syria and international sanctions against Iran caused a jump in demand for dollars sold by Baghdad, according to bank officials.

The bank issued a statement Thursday saying that its dollar auctions continue as normal in an apparent bid to head off any concerns about the currency's strength in light of the allegations. Still, the scandal threatens to damage Iraq's already shaky economy.

"The confusion and mess over the central bank was unjustified. To attack public figures through media outlets is the last thing Iraq's economy needs," Iraqi economist Majid al-Souri said. "The government should have formed a committee to investigate any shortcomings and find the right solutions for better bank policies instead of launching general corruption charges against public figures."

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