Saturday, November 18, 2006
Iranian RGC commander: strategy based on U.S. weakness
Iran, Security
In an interview on Iran's Channel 2, that aired on November 12, 2006, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi stated that Iran had based its strategy on the U.S. military's strengths and weaknesses. He discussed the capabilities of the Shahab missiles and the weaknesses and the cowardice of the U.S. military, claiming among other things that the Iranian military could disrupt enemy satellite systems.
"As I pointed out, starting a war with another country or attacking it is currently not part of our plans or strategy. But if the Zionist regime or the Americans make problems for us and organize attacks against us... The Zionist regime is about 1,300 kilometers from our centers. If we have a missile range of 2,000 kilometers, it is only natural that a distance of 1,300 kilometers is within this range.
"Therefore, I do not believe that the Zionists would even dream of threatening us. If they do, they will face the greatest danger to their very existence. I say again: We are interested in peace and quiet in the Middle East. We have no policy of attacking [anyone], but we will respond to any invading power with a force that they cannot even imagine. Neither the Americans nor the Zionists know what complex, precise, and intelligence-based plans we have designed in order to defend our country and to deal with their possible attacks."
"Therefore, I do not believe that the Zionists would even dream of threatening us. If they do, they will face the greatest danger to their very existence. I say again: We are interested in peace and quiet in the Middle East. We have no policy of attacking [anyone], but we will respond to any invading power with a force that they cannot even imagine. Neither the Americans nor the Zionists know what complex, precise, and intelligence-based plans we have designed in order to defend our country and to deal with their possible attacks."
