clipped from: www.reuters.com 
By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would target U.S. interests around the world if it came under attack over its disputed nuclear program.
His comments were accompanied by an Iranian naval commander's statement that the Revolutionary Guards had test fired missiles that could sink "big warships" in the Gulf, the waterway where a second U.S. aircraft carrier is now heading.
"We do not see that as a direct assault on our ships," a White House spokesman said.
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Washington said the United States planned to stick to firm diplomacy, not go to war with the Islamic Republic.
Iran and the United States are locked in a war of words over Tehran's nuclear energy program, which Washington says is being channeled into bomb-building, a charge Tehran denies.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said on Wednesday he would hold "negotiations" with European officials at a February 9-11 conference in Germany, the first such contacts since U.N. sanctions were imposed on Iran in December.
European diplomats said any talks were expected to be exploratory, not full negotiations on substantive issues. They noted Iran was still rejecting a mandatory U.N. Security Council resolution demanding it stop enriching uranium to create trust. Continued...