Iran warns of revenge over oil sanctions from West

TEHERAN, Iran - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iran would retaliate over Western-backed oil sanctions and any threat of attack, after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he feared a possible Israeli strike as early as April.

Khamenei's defiant speech to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was the first direct response to tighter sanctions imposed by the West in recent weeks to force Teheran to abandon a nuclear program it says has purely peaceful ends.

"Threatening Iran and attacking Iran will harm America ... Sanctions will not have any impact on our determination to continue our nuclear course ... In response to threats of oil embargo and war, we have our own threats to impose at the right time," Khamenei told worshippers in a speech broadcast live on state television.