Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Finger of the Revolutionary Guards on the Trigger

Testing Shahab-3 with a 2,000-Kilometer Range


On Wednesday morning, news agencies affiliated to the Islamic Republic simultaneously ‎reported that nine updated Shahab-3 missiles with ranges of 2,000 kilometers and capable of ‎carrying payloads of one ton were successfully tested during the Revolutionary Guards' military ‎maneuvers in the Persian Gulf. ‎

Minutes after the report, Fars news agency quoted Revolutionary Guards air force commander ‎Hossein Salami as saying, "The Guards' hand is on the trigger to shoot thousands of missiles ‎toward any aggressor." Salami added, "The purpose of holding this maneuver is to demonstrate ‎determination, willpower and might against enemies that have threatened Iran in recent weeks ‎with violent literature. We shoot these missiles in honor of Iran to show that this is only a small ‎part of Iran's ability and defensive capability. We tell enemies who intend to derail the Iranian ‎nation from its holy path with psychological operations and real threats that we are always ‎prepared to defend." ‎
Also, Commander Hejazi, deputy chief of the Revolutionary Guards commented on yesterday's ‎maneuvers in an interview with ISNA: "Only a small part of Iran's unshakable power was ‎demonstrated in this exercise." ‎
Meanwhile, according to Fars news agency, Commander Najjar, Iran's defense minister, said, ‎‎"Iran's missile capability is rapid and accurate." ‎
Israel within ReachYesterday's testing of the missiles, if comments by military officials are true, shows that Israel is ‎now within reach of Iran's missiles. Iran’s regions that are closest to Israel are between the ‎towns of Ghasr-e Shirin and Mehran in western Iran, which are about 1,200 kilometers from ‎Israel. If the Revolutionary Guards' new missiles truly have a range of 2,000 kilometers, they ‎can, as a religious-military figure reiterated on Tuesday, target Israel and the city of Tel Aviv. In ‎addition, Revolutionary Guards air force commander Hossein Salami told Fars news agency ‎yesterday during his interview, "We think far beyond the Zionist regime, and do not compare ‎ourselves merely with the occupying Zionist regime. The range of our threats and confrontation ‎would go far beyond the Zionist regime." ‎
The Revolutionary Guards is testing its new missiles at a time when Ali Shirazi, the supreme ‎leader's representative at the Revolutionary Guards navy, delivered a speech yesterday on the ‎Islamic Republic's possible retaliation in response to "any potential attack," insisting that Iran's ‎first response to any such attacks is to "destroy Tel Aviv and America's navy." Speaking at the ‎sixth annual political convention for navy employees, Shirazi said, "Today, the Islamic Republic ‎is at the height of its ability, power and preparedness, which is not comparable to any era in the ‎country's history." Shirazi added, "The Zionist regime continues to pressure the White House to ‎prepare its military aggression against Iran. If an attack takes place by them, Tel Aviv and ‎America's navy in the Persian Gulf are the first targets that would be set on fire with Iran's ‎destructive response."‎

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