LF: Iran Warns: If Israel Attacks, Israel Will Be Destroyed

Title: Iran Warns: If Israel Attacks, Israel Will Be Destroyed
Source: DigitalJournal.com
URL Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/327258
Published: Jun 24, 2012
Author: DigitalJournal.com
Post Date: 2012-06-24 15:09:05 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 602

Negotiations between world powers and Iran wrapped up in Moscow with no resolution, and a high-ranking Iranian general has sent a strong warning to Israel on possible attacks.

While Israel and its Western allies suspect that Tehran is enriching uranium and is seeking to create nuclear warheads, many Western experts say this is not the case.

Despite this, Tel Aviv has repeatedly stated that it will bomb Iranian nuclear facilities to prevent the construction of nuclear weapons.

Iran, on the other hand, insists that it needs enriched uranium for civilian uses, including medicine.

Last week, nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Moscow failed to meet any resolution, which has heightened fears that Israel may take unilateral military action to halt Iran's nuclear activities. Both sides agreed to hold a follow-up meeting of technical experts on July 3.

According to Fars news agency and Reuters, a high-ranking Iranian general has warned that if Israel goes from threats to military actions, “it is Israel who will be destroyed.”

Brigadier General Mostafa Izadi, who is deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces told Fars, "If the Zionist regime takes any actions against Iran, it would result in the end of its labors."

Izadi assured that Israel cannot harm Iran in the slightest. "If they act logically, such threats amount to a psychological war, but if they want to act illogically, it is they who will be destroyed," he said.

This comes as a response to Israel's renewed calls for tougher sanctions against Iran. As the Islamic Republic sat down to another round of nuclear talks with world powers, Israel has issued more calls threatening Iran with military action. Tel Aviv believes that Tehran does not take the threat of war seriously.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said in an interview at the start of the talks, “The Iranians think this is just a warning. That people are not serious enough.”

“If the Iranians understand seriously that this [military action] is an option, maybe we shall not need it. If they think this is a bluff, then it may lead to a war,” he added.

The negotiations in Moscow included all six nuclear powers - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. They insisted that Iran must scale back its nuclear work and stop enriching uranium to levels close to that necessary to make a nuclear bomb.

They demanded Iran shut down the Fordow underground uranium enrichment facility and that Iran must ship any stockpile out of the country.

In return, they offered fuel to keep Iran's medical isotope reactor running, assistance in nuclear safety and an end to a ban on spare parts for Iran's ageing civilian aircraft.

Iran refused the proposed deal as having too many demands, with little offered in return. Iran wants relief from strangling economic sanctions which have been imposed by the EU and U.S., and wants an official acknowledgement of its right to enrich uranium, before they will even consider scaling down their nuclear activities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the latest round of talks has been "quite useful", despite the fact that there was no breakthrough. He says that talks must continue without "any artificial deadlines or ultimatums."

Speaking on Russia's Rossiya 24 television, Lavrov said, "In order to settle the issue, it's necessary to refrain from constant threats of using force, abandon scenarios aimed against Iran, and stop dismissing the talks as failure."

He further said that while the international talks must not be dragged out, it would be wrong to "put forward any artificial deadlines and ultimatums and say that if there is no final agreement by the end of July or August - and there simply can't be any in such a (short) period - then we will end talks and launch some kind of bellicose actions."

In other related news, Fars has reported that "Iran can hit and destroy all mobile targets with its ballistic missiles with 100 percent precision capability."

Brigadier General Hossein Salami told the Iranian state-run TV on Saturday, "I hold doubt if the US and Russia which once pioneered in the missile industry have this capability, but as far as our country is concerned I announce very decisively that we have made this achievement that we can hit all mobile targets with 100 percent success."

Salami further stated that Iran enjoys the same capability with regard to fixed targets. "In regard to other components of defense power, we are capable of attacking enemy's strategy and its vital interests in any place and at the same level that it acts."

"And we can act in a way that we will be in charge of escalation control. When designing our strategy, we defined a radius of deterrence which encircles all the strategic interests of the enemy in the region to enable ourselves to manage the battle if a war breaks out," he added.