TEHRAN — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed once again on Tuesday to "cut the hands" of Iran's enemies if the Islamic republic comes under attack.

"We will welcome a hand which has sincerely reached out for friendship, but if anywhere in the world a hand is extended for aggression against Iranians, the nation will cut it from the arm," he told a rally in South Khorasan province.

Iran's arch-foes Israel and the United States have not ruled out military strikes against Tehran's nuclear sites to stop its atomic programme which the West suspects is aimed at making an atom bomb.

In his speech broadcast live on state television from the northeastern province, Ahmadinejad repeated Tehran was not making an atomic bomb, stressing Iranians do not need them.

Tension between Iran and Western powers has peaked after Tehran began work on enriching uranium to 20 percent purity level, in theory bringing it closer to the level required for making a nuclear weapon.

Uranium when enriched at low level can power a nuclear reactor, but when refined to 93 percent can be used to make the fissile core of an atom bomb.

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