Following are excerpts from an interview with former Iranian MP Reza Yusefian, which aired on LBC TV on April 9, 2006.

Reza Yusefian: I think that what was written in The New Yorker is greatly exaggerated. I do not deny the possibility of a military confrontation at the end of the day, but I do not believe that at this stage, this would be anybody's first option - neither Iran nor the U.S. At this point, backstage diplomacy, the lobbies, and the negotiations we hear about, will be, I believe, the first option of both parties. But if any military confrontation takes place, Iran will have no choice but to respond, and Israel will be its first target.