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Iran threatens attacks on US bases in event of war

  By ALI AKBAR DAREINITEHRAN, Iran -- A senior commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that Iran will target U.S. bases in the region in the event of war with Israel, raising the prospect of a broader conflict that would force other countries to get involved, Iranian state television reported Sunday.

The comments by Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who heads the Guard's aerospace division, came amid tension over Iran's nuclear program and Israel's suggestion that it might unilaterally strike Iranian nuclear facilities to scuttle what the United States and its allies believe are efforts to build a bomb. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Hajizadeh said no Israeli attack can happen without the support of its most important ally, the United States, making all U.S. military bases a legitimate target.

"For this reason, we will enter a confrontation with both parties and will definitely be at war with American bases should a war break out," Hajizadeh said in remarks that were posted on the website of Iran's state Al-Alam TV. U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan would be targeted, he said.

"There will be no neutral country in the region," Hajizadeh said. "To us, these bases are equal to U.S. soil."

The U.S. Fifth fleet is based in Bahrain and the U.S. has a heavy military presence in Afghanistan.

Despite Israeli hints of a military strike, Iran's military commanders believe Israel is unlikely to take unilateral action against Iran. The Guard's top commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, said last week that Iran believes the United States won't attack Iran because its military bases in the Middle East are within the range of Iran's missiles.

Iran has also warned that oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be in jeopardy if a war breaks out between Iran and the United States. Iranian officials had previously threatened to close the waterway, the route for a fifth of the world's oil, if there is war.

Israel believes that any attack on Iran would likely unleash retaliation in the form of Iranian missiles as well as rocket attacks by Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas on its northern and southern borders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel says international diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions against Iran have failed to deter its nuclear ambitions, and he has urged U.S. President Barack Obama to declare "red lines" that would trigger an American attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, coupling his appeals with veiled threats of an Israeli attack.

Obama has rejected these calls, saying diplomacy and U.S.-led sanctions must be given more time and that Iran will never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. American officials have pressed Israel not to attack Iran unilaterally, a move that could set off regional mayhem just ahead of the November election.

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israel, iran, u.s. military, u.s. & world news

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Apple sets event for possible iPhone 5

Invitations sent out for the Apple event on September 12.

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- Apple is inviting reporters to a news conference next week in San Francisco with a message that suggests that it will reveal the iPhone 5, as expected.

The email invitation shows a big "12," for Sept. 12, casting a shadow in the shape of a "5."

Various unconfirmed reports have pointed to Sept. 12 as being the day Apple Inc. shows off the new phone, which is expected to go on sale a week or two later.

The next iPhone is expected to have a taller screen and the ability to access the latest wireless data networks in the U.S. Analysts expect it to set sales records.

Other unconfirmed reports say Apple will reveal a smaller version of the iPad, taking on competitors like Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire, which have nibbled on the edges of the iPad's dominance in the tablet category.

On Wednesday, Nokia and Motorola are holding events of their own in New York, apparently to reveal their latest products ahead of the iPhone launch.

Apple shares rose $5.18 to $676.42 in afternoon trading. The shares are close to their all-time high of $680.87, hit a week ago.

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science & technology

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Venus to pass sun in once-in-a-lifetime event

  OSKAR GARCIAHONOLULU -- Stargazers around the world are setting up special telescopes and passing out cardboard eclipse glasses to view the once-in-a-lifetime celestial cameo of Venus passing in front of the sun.

The transit of Venus - a planetary spectacle that won't occur again until 2117 - won't be enough to significantly block the sun's light, but it will give Earth's closest star a moving beauty mark. Venus is currently Earth's closest neighboring planet, although Mars occasionally has that distinction.

"In terms of rarity, to be here at a time when it's happening, you almost have to look at it," said Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory, who saw the last transit in 2004. "It ain't going to happen again in my lifetime."

The transit is happening during a 6-hour, 40-minute span starting just after 6 p.m. EDT in the United States. What you can see and for how long depends on what the sun's doing in your region during that exact window, and the weather. Those in most areas of North and Central America will see the start of the transit until the sun sets, while those in Western Asia, the eastern half of Africa and most of Europe will catch the transit's end once the sun comes up.

Hawaii, Alaska, eastern Australian and eastern Asia including Japan, North and South Korea and eastern China will get the whole show since the entire transit will happen during daylight in those regions.

Don't stare directly at the sun without eclipse glasses, a properly filtered telescope or a strong welding visor. Permanent eye damage could result.

Astronomers across the globe are using the rarity of the moment to spark scientific curiosity among the public, and to document the transit with the latest technology available.

Sul Ah Chim, a researcher at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute in the central South Korean city of Daejon, said he hoped the event will help people see life from a larger perspective and "not get caught up in their small, everyday problems."

"Most people consider 105 years to be a very long time," Sul said. "But when you think about it from the context of the universe, 105 years is a very short period of time, and the Earth is only a small, pale blue spot."

In Hawaii, university astronomers planned viewings at Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor and Ko Olina. At Waikiki, officials planned to show webcasts of the transit as seen from telescopes from volcanoes Mauna Kea on the Big Island and Haleakala on Maui.

NASA planned a watch party at its Goddard Visitor Center in Maryland with solar telescopes, images from its Solar Dynamics Observatory Mission and expert commentary and presentations. The observatory will produce "Hubble-quality" images, according to NASA's website.

Groups of scientists from the University of North Texas planned to watch from points in Alaska and Hawaii to recreate the 1769 expedition of British Capt. James Cook, who used the transit to calculate Earth's distance from the sun. The scientists will use atomic clocks, GPS and high-end telescopes to take measurements, and will use high-end video gear to capture time-lapse video.

Experts from Hong Kong's Space Museum and local astronomical groups were organizing a viewing Wednesday outside the museum's building on the Kowloon waterfront overlooking the southern Chinese city's famed Victoria Harbor. The transit begins there around 6 a.m. local time.

The transit also coincides with a national holiday in South Korea. Choi Hyungbin, head of the Daejon Observatory, said he was expecting more visitors than might otherwise come out to watch the transit. Local media urged curious residents to visit observatories for the event, reiterating the danger of looking directly at the sun.

This will be the seventh transit visible since German astronomer Johannes Kepler first predicted the phenomenon in the 17th century. Because of the shape and speed of Venus' orbit around the sun and its relationship to Earth's annual trip, transits occur in pairs separated by more than a century.

It's nowhere near as dramatic and awe-inspiring as a total solar eclipse, which sweeps a shadow across the Earth, but there will be six more of those this decade.

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Get more information about how and where to see the transit of Venus at nasa.gov and space.com

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science & technology

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Gingrich hit with glitter at Minneapolis event

  By BRIAN BAKSTMINNEAPOLIS -- GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista were hit with glittery confetti by a protester Tuesday during the couple's appearance at a book-signing.

The man approached the Gingriches during the signing at a downtown Minneapolis hotel, dumped a cracker box full of colorful confetti on the pair and said, "Feel the rainbow, Newt! Stop the hate! Stop anti-gay politics!"

Two Associated Press reporters witnessed the event. The man was quickly pushed out of the room by an event organizer as the Gingriches brushed confetti out of their hair and laps.

Newt Gingrich smiled as he brushed confetti off the table, and said, "Nice to live in a free country."

Although authorities couldn't immediately confirm the man's identity, he appeared to be Nick Espinosa, a prankster who has disrupted at least two other political events in Minnesota, including one in which he dumped a bagful of pennies in the lap of a Republican candidate for governor last year. In that prank, Espinosa - who has also used the name Robert Erickson - told reporters he was trying to highlight immigration issues.

Espinosa emailed reporters later Tuesday and attached pictures of the confetti attack. He said it was a protest against a proposal to amend Minnesota's Constitution to ban gay marriage.

Newt Gingrich was due to give a speech at the event sponsored by the Minnesota Family Council later in the evening.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Politics & Elections »

2012 presidential election, politics & elections

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