Iran Will Hit Tel Aviv, U.S. Ships if Attacked

[82Rigger]

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"The first bullet fired by America at Iran will be followed by Iran burning down America's vital interests around the globe," the students news agency ISNA quoted Ali Shirazi as saying in a speech to Revolutionary Guards.

The United States and its allies suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear bombs. Tehran says its programme is peaceful.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said major world powers had decided to send European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Iran for talks on an incentives package they offered last month to induce Tehran to change its nuclear policy.

Sarkozy did not say when Solana would travel to Tehran. Iran formally replied on Friday to the offer by the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.

France said Iran's response had ignored the world powers' demand for a suspension of uranium enrichment before talks on implementing the package -- a condition rejected on Monday as "illegitimate" by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Shirazi's comments intensified a war of words that has raised fears of military confrontation and helped boost world oil prices to record highs in recent weeks.

"The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran's first targets and they will be burned," Shirazi was quoted as saying.

All I can say is, "Thanks for the heads-up, jackass! We'll be ready for ya!"

Somebody loan me a bullet!

[revwardoc]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25588284/

Iranian president says no war with U.S., Israel
A top aide warns earlier that Iran will retaliate if attacked

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that he sees no possibility of a war between his country and the United States or Israel.

"I assure you that there won't be any war in the future," Ahmadinejad told a news conference during a visit to Malaysia for a summit of developing Muslim nations.

Ahmadinejad's comments came less than 24 hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced that its forces were carrying out a military drill involving "missile squads" and warned that the country would retaliate against any military strike by targeting Tel Aviv and U.S. warships in the Gulf.

Iranian officials have been issuing a mix of conciliatory and bellicose statements in recent weeks about the possibility of a clash with the U.S. and Israel.

Predicting Israel's collapse: Ahmadinejad also predicted Israel would collapse without Iranian action.

The Israelis "are a complex political group, but you should know this regime will be eventually destroyed and there is no need of any measure by Iranian people," he said when asked to comment on whether he has called for the destruction of Israel.

Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel's elimination. But his exact remarks have been disputed. Some translators say he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," but others say that would be better translated as "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would disappear on its own rather than be destroyed.

Ahmadinejad also said Tuesday that the next U.S. administration "would need at least 30 years in order to compensate, renovate and innovate the damages done by Mr. Bush."

"Today, the government of the United States is on the threshold of bankruptcy — from political to economic," Ahmadinejad said.

"The greatest threat in the Middle East and the whole world ... is the United States' intervention in other countries," Ahmadinejad said.

He urged Washington to heal its image by "relying on (the) basis of justice, humanitarian acts and respect for human beings."

For months, Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have said they don't believe the U.S. will attack because of its difficulties in Iraq, domestic worries and concerns over the fallout in the region. At the same time, Tehran has stepped up its warnings of retaliation if the Americans — or Israelis — do attack it, including threats to hit Israel and U.S. Gulf bases with missiles and stop oil traffic through the vital Gulf region.

Iran has pledged retaliation: The Web site of the elite Iranian force posted a statement late Monday quoting guard official Ali Shirazi as saying that Iran would retaliate against any military strike by targeting Tel Aviv and U.S. warships in the Gulf.

"The Zionist regime is pushing the White House to prepare for a military strike on Iran," Shirazi was quoted as saying.

"If such a stupidity is done by them, Tel Aviv and the U.S. naval fleet in the Persian Gulf will be the first targets which will be set on fire in Iran's crushing response."

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev would not comment on Shirazi's warning other than to say "his words speak for themselves."

State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said such statements by Iran were "unfortunately...not out of the norm."

"We continue to stress our desire to resolve this issue diplomatically," Gallegos added.

Israel's military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that U.S. officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons.

The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, headquartered in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain, is responsible for patrolling the Gulf, the Suez Canal and parts of the Indian Ocean.

Shirazi is a cleric who represents supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the guards' naval force. Khamenei has the final say over all state matters.

The Guards' Web site also announced late Monday that forces were carrying out a military drill involving "missile squads," but did not say where it was taking place.

Iran's guards and national army hold regular exercises two or three times a year, but the statement did not say whether this drill was one of them or if it was a special exercise.

[SEATJERKER]

...

...No doom, and gloom,...

...To me, it just seems that "it's" going to happen sooner, or later, and as far as I'm concerned, let's just get it over with, and finish "it" now as opposed to waiting, and letting them build up any sort of resistence,...

..."They" won't stop until they put two, and two together, and have the bomb, by then it's too late, many more will die. They won't listen to diplomatic solutions, they are not North Korea with their saber rattling looking for the handout, it's about power, and I don't mean electric,...

...figure what? 4 months of straight air power dropping everything that moves in their sights before a boot ever touches ground,...

...

...Stop up Steve, I'll lend you a few,...

...

[82Rigger]

Ya know what would be funny?

I'm not proposing that we indiscriminately kill anybody...

If there was some way we could dump a large nuke out in the desert in Iran somewhere without them being able to figure out where it came from.

Do it just after dark, while everybody is still awake, with a weapon that would light up the sky from border to border.

I bet it would be like stirring up a big ol' ant hill!

[revwardoc]

Rigger, there's a book by Nelson DeMille called "Wild Fire". Its about a plot by Americans to nuke the entire Middle East, east of Israel, by using submarines launched missles. The first phase of the plot was to "suitcase-nuke" two cities in the US, blame it on Muslim governments, then blow them off the face of the earth. It's a good story, but frighteningly feasible.

[SEATJERKER]

...Published - Jul 09 2008 09:23AM EDT | AP
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI - Associated Press Writer
Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games that officials said aimed to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. and Israeli attack, state television reported.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said the exercise would "demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language," the TV report said.

Wednesday's war games were being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.


The report showed footage of at least three missiles firing simultaneously, and said the barrage included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead.

That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan within striking distance.

"Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying Wednesday.

The report comes less than a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed fears that Israel and the United States could be preparing to attack his country, calling the possibility a "funny joke."

"I assure you that there won't be any war in the future," Ahmadinejad told a news conference Tuesday during a visit to Malaysia for a summit of developing Muslim nations.

But even as Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have dismissed the possibility of attack, Tehran has stepped up its warnings of retaliation if the Americans _ or Israelis _ do launch military action, including threats to hit Israel and U.S. Gulf bases with missiles and stop oil traffic through the vital Gulf region.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Wednesday's tests "evidence that the missile threat is not an imaginary one."

"Those who say that there is no Iranian missile threat against which we should build a missile defense system perhaps ought to talk to the Iranians about their claims," Rice said while traveling in Sofia, Bulgaria.

A White House spokesman called the tests "completely inconsistent with Iran's obligations to the world."

"The Iranian regime only furthers the isolation of the Iranian people from the international community when it engages in this sort of activity," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council.


"They should also refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world," he added, speaking from Japan where President Bush is attending the Group of Eight summit.

In late June, Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, who was then the commander of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, said any attempt by Iran to seal off the Strait of Hormuz would be viewed as an act of war. The U.S. 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain, across the Gulf from Iran.

Israel's military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that U.S. officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons.

Iran says its nuclear program is geared only toward generating electricity, not weapons.

The Israeli exercise was widely interpreted as a show of force as well as a practice on skills needed to execute a long-range strike mission.

Shaul Mofaz, an Israeli Cabinet minister, set off an international uproar last month by saying in a published interview that Israel would have "no choice" but to attack Iran if it doesn't halt its nuclear program. Mofaz is a former military chief and defense minister, and has been Israel's representative in a strategic dialogue on Iran with U.S. officials.

On Wednesday, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel "does not desire hostility and conflict with Iran."



"But it is clear that the Iranian nuclear program and the Iranian ballistic missile program is a matter of grave concern," Regev said.

The Guards and Iran's regular army routinely hold exercises two or three times a year.




This image from Iranian Television shows a Shahab-3 missile being launched, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday July 9, 2008 during war games that officials say are in response to U.S. and Israeli threats, state television reported. (AP Photo/Iranian TV via APTN)


...Their hands are already on the trigger,...

...would you turn, and walk the 20 paces in a "western shootout' with him, NO, why you say that, "because he'd shoot you in the back before you turn around",...

...Bottom line is, we've over the years developed some pretty strong devices that go boom, and everyone else wants them,those we have trusted have passed along the brains of it all, and the ones with bad intentions are getting the itchy trigger fingers on it, so now will we ever be able to stop the ball from rolling, or slow it down,...

... No! but we have to put up major bumps so that the wheels fall off the ball,...

...it's not rocks, and clubs anymore, time, and science allows even the worst of the worst to buy their "power", to be used for destruction only for their greed of "power",...

...This is the culmination of it all, I'm all for prayers, but just praying won't stop them from continuing to pursue the big bang,...

...

[revwardoc]

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/200.../index.html?hp

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Check this out. It appears that the Iranian Defense Agency knows Photoshop.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Sounds like Ma Mood is crawfishing a little bit. I'd like to know what happened behind the scenes to put a bee in his bonnet.