Iran again warns its missiles are capable of hitting Israel
Washington, 27 August (IranVNC)—The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC], Mohammad Ali Jafari, warned Israel today that Iranian missiles and Iran’s allies in the region would strike the Jewish state if Iran was attacked.
By: IranVNC
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
11:00GMT—7:00AM/EST
IRAN – ISRAEL – SECURITY – MISSILES
Washington, 27 August (IranVNC)—The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC], Mohammad Ali Jafari, warned Israel today that Iranian missiles and Iran’s allies in the region would strike the Jewish state if Iran was attacked.
“Our strategic calculations and estimations show that if the Zionist regime [Israel] makes the slightest move against our interests, either independently or with America, all the territories under the Zionist regime’s control will become insecure in the shortest time,” Mehr News Agency quotes Jafari as saying.
He added: “This land is completely in the range of the Islamic Republic’s missiles.”
This latest threat comes as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak again warned Iran that his country would not rule out any option to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
The U.S. and Israel suspect Iran is using the cover of a civilian nuclear program to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Iran strongly denies.
In June, the Israeli Air Force conducted military exercises over the Mediterranean Sea over what was seen as a test-run for an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
But Jafari warned Israel that Iran’s regional allies would also hit back at Israel if Iran were attacked.
“The Israelis know that if they take action against Iran, with the capabilities that the Islamic world and the Shiite world have in the region, they will definitely suffer deadly strikes,” Mehr News reports.
Jafari did not say who would attack Israel in support of Iran, but Iran’s regional allies are said to include Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as well as Syria.
He also said that US forces in the region – including troops in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as US naval forces in the Persian Gulf – were at risk.
“The presence of these forces allows Iran to harm America’s interests, even far-off [interests], in different ways outside of its missile capabilities,” Jafari said.
Iran has threatened US interests in the region by saying it would close the Strait of Hormoz in the Persian Gulf if it was attacked. Between 20 and 40 percent of the world’s daily oil supply passes through the vital waterway.
A member of the Majlis [parliament] National Security and Foreign Affairs Commission today reiterated the Iranian threat.
“The key for the lock to the Middle East region, which is the lock to the world, is in the hands of the Iranian nation,” the semi-official ISNA news agency quotes Javad Karimi-Qoddousi as saying.
“Even if they pass 100 resolutions, it is incomparable to our closing of the Strait of Hormoz for even one day … and this effort [closing the Strait] is doable,” Karimi-Qoddousi said, referring to the three rounds of United Nations sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.
Israel’s Ehud Barak told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday night that Washington must further tighten economic sanctions on Tehran with the goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.
Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama also said Monday that the world must increase pressure on Iran over its nuclear program before Israel feels cornered.
Sources: Mehr News Agency, ISNA in Persian
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.