Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh
Πηγή: Gulf Daily News
Nov 27 2011
TEHRAN: Iran will target Nato's missile defence installations in Turkey if the US or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic, a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said yesterday.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the guards' aerospace division, said the warning is part of a new defence strategy to counter what he described as an increase in threats from the US and Israel.
Tensions have been rising between Iran and the West since the release of a report earlier this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency that said for the first time that Tehran was suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose was the development of nuclear arms.
"Should we be threatened, we will target Nato's missile defence shield in Turkey and then hit the next targets," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Hajizadeh as saying.
Tehran says Nato's early warning radar station in Turkey is meant to protect Israel against Iranian missile attacks if a war breaks out with the Jewish state. Ankara agreed to host the radar in Kurecik in September as part of Nato's missile defence system aimed at countering ballistic missile threats from Iran.
Hajizadeh said the US also plans to instal similar stations in Arab states, which has spurred Iran to alter its military defence strategy.
Another senior guard commander, Yadollah Javani, threatened that Tehran will target Israel's nuclear facilities should the Jewish state attack Iran.
"If Israel fires a missile at our nuclear facilities or vital installations, it should know that Israel's nuclear centres will be the target of our missiles," the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Also yesterday, the chief of Iran's elite Quds Force said he doesn't fear assassination and is ready for "martyrdom."
The comments by Quds Force commander Brig-Gen Ghassem Soleimani were published in several Iranian newspapers. The Quds Force is the special foreign operations unit of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard, and Soleimani is a key figure in Iran's military establishment.
Tensions have increased in recent weeks between Iran and the US, with several American neoconservatives urging the Obama administration to use covert action against Iran and kill some of its top officials, including Soleimani.
The force has been accused by the Americans of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
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