Iranians worry about possibility of war with west

Iranians worry about possibility of war amid tensions with West

REPORTING FROM TEHRAN AND BEIRUT— The deepening standoff between Tehran and the West over Iran's nuclear program has Iranians chatting nervously in butcher shops, grocery aisles and money exchanges.

In a Tehran supermarket, Ali and his wife, a couple in their 40s, were filling cart after cart with bags of groceries. When asked by other shoppers why he was buying so much, Ali responded he was stocking up for "when the U.S. will come and bombard" the Islamic Republic.

"I mean it," said Ali, who like many here would not give his last name. He pointed at other frowning customers. "Look at the faces of people here. They are worried."

The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, but Tehran says its program is only for  civilian purposes. Earlier this month, Iran said  that it had begun to enrich uranium at a new underground bunker. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the decision, saying it put Iran "a significant step closer" to getting  the ability to produce weapons-grade fuel.

On Jan. 11, an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a Tehran car explosion, something that Iran's supreme leader says was organized by U.S. and Israeli spy agencies. The killing came briefly after Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, warned that the Islamic Republic could expect "unnatural events" taking place in 2012.