( Office of the Supreme Leader / Associated Press ) - In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader’s office, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivers Friday prayers sermon, at the Tehran University campus, Iran, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. Iran will help any nation or group that confronts the “cancer” Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday. He also said in remarks delivered to worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran and broadcast on state TV that the country would continue its controversial nuclear program, and warned that any military strike by the U.S. would only make Iran stronger.
Tehran has stepped up its rhetoric as international pressure mounts over allegations that it is seeking to develop atomic weapons, a charge it denies.