WarSclerotic

Fars News Agency :: DM: Israel Too Weak to Attack Iran.

DM: Israel Too Weak to Attack Iran TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi rejected the speculations that Israel might launch an attack against the country, warning that any aggression by the regime will be reciprocated by a crushing response causing its annihilation.

“…the Zionist regime is too weak to start a war with Iran,” Vahidi told reporters, adding that think tanks and research centers of the regime have advised it not to even think about attacking Iran.

Asked about Iran’s response to any possible aggression by Israel, he underlined, “We have given their response before and if something like that happens, nothing will likely be left of the illegitimate Zionist regime.”

Vahidi also dismissed the possibility for a US attack against Iran’s nuclear installations, and said, “We assume that Americans are wise enough to stay away from such a dangerous move and they themselves have announced this.”

Speculation that Israel could bomb Iran mounted since a big Israeli air drill in 2008. In the first week of June, 2008, 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters reportedly took part in an exercise over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece, which was interpreted as a dress rehearsal for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.

Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormoz.

An estimated 40 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through the waterway.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Meantime, a recent study by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a prestigious American think tank, has found that a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities “is unlikely” to delay the country’s program.

In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy also said that in the two decades since the Iran-Iraq War, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.

According to the report, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world’s oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale of Iran’s response would likely be proportional to the scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.

This entry was posted on April 7, 2010 at 12:24 PM and is filed under Iran / Israel War. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.