Now,
Iran Flexes The Muscles
By Aljazeera
19 August, 2004
Aljazeera
Iranian
Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani has warned that Iran might launch a pre-emptive
strike to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities.He said this in
an interview with Aljazeera TV on Wednesday.
"We will not
sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will do to us. Some military
commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the
Americans talk about are not their monopoly," Shamkhani said when
asked about the possibility of a US or Israeli strike against Iran's
nuclear facilities.
"America is
not the only one present in the region. We are also present, from Khost
to Kandahar in Afghanistan; we are present in the Gulf and we can be
present in Iraq," said Shamkhani.
Earlier, the Iranian
press reported a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards as saying
Iran will strike the Israeli reactor at Dimona if Israel attacks the
Islamic republic's nuclear facilities.
"If Israel
fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it should permanently
forget about Dimona nuclear centre, where it produces and keeps its
nuclear weapons, and Israel would be responsible for the terrifying
consequence of this move," General Muhammad Baqir Zolqadr warned.
The minister's and
the general's comments mark an escalation in an exchange of threats
between Israel and Iran in recent weeks, leading to speculation that
there may be a repeat of Israel's strike against Iraqi nuclear facilities
at Osirak in 1981.
Iran's attempt to
generate nuclear power at its plant being built at Bushehr is seen by
arch-enemies Israel and the United States as a cover for nuclear weapons
development.
But Iran insists
that its nuclear intentions are peaceful, while pointing at its enemy's
alleged nuclear arsenal, which Israel neither confirms nor denies possessing.
Israel within
range
Dimona, in the Negev
desert, is allegedly where Israel produces weapons-grade plutonium for
its estimated 200 nuclear warheads.
Revolutionary Guard
chief Yad Allah Javani warned on Sunday that "the entire Zionist
territory including its nuclear establishments and atomic munitions
are now within the range of Iran's advanced missiles".
The statement came
a few days after the Islamic republic conducted what it called a successful
test of an upgraded version of its conventional medium-range Shahab-3
missile.
The missile is considered
the mainstay of Iran's military technology and portrayed as defensive
and dissuasive, but also specifically as a weapon against Israel.
Threats dismissed
The Revolutionary
Guards, or Sepah-e Pasdaran, to whom the Shahab-3 has been entrusted,
exist in parallel to the regular armed forces. They are well equipped
and have a navy and air force as well as ground troops.
Zolqadr, however,
considered that "given the internal crises in the Zionist regime
and its military, security and geographical vulnerability, Israel is
not capable of attacking Iran and its threats are only propaganda".
The threats, said
General Zolqadr, were intended to deprive Iran of its "indisputable
right" to nuclear technology for peaceful ends.
Israel in July tested
an improved version of its Arrow II anti-missile system, aimed squarely
at fending off any attack by Iran.