Iran vows to 'destroy the U.S.
Navy' - Adam Kredo - http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/16/iran-vows-destroy-us-navy/
A top Iranian naval commander said that he is prepared to order suicide attacks, drone strikes, and missile technology to "destroy the U.S. Navy" in any upcoming confrontation, according to an interview printed in Iran's state-run media.
Iranian Naval Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, a member of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that Iran is constantly training and preparing for a clash with the United States,according to a recounting of his remarks provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Fadavi revealed that Iran "compensates for its technological inferiority to the United States with a strategy of asymmetrical warfare, including suicide attacks and the use of speedboat and its missile capability," according to MEMRI.
Additionally, Fadavi revealed that on "at least" three occasions senior U.S. officials have contacted Iran to establish a telephone hot line like the one used between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War era.
Fadavi's military threats come amid a massive military buildup by Iran, which claims to have duplicated and armed a downed U.S. drone and to have developed advanced ballistic missiles that could be capable of carrying a nuclear payload.
Fadavi additionally revealed in another interview earlier this month that the IRGC is preparing to use drones to perform suicide attacks and also arming drones to fire missiles.
While the United States possesses advanced military equipment, "these weapons are ineffective against a new [Iranian] strategy relying on faith, on a desire for martyrdom, and on [Iran's] unique speedboats," Fadavi said.
Iran will "not allow the U.S. to act against it from its bases in the Persian Gulf countries," according to Fadavi, who claimed that U.S. forces in the region are being careful "not to cause a flare-up in the region because they know that they will lose any potential conflict with Iran," according to MEMRI's report on Fadavi's remarks.
"U.S. naval forces in the region," Fadavi claimed, "are obeying the orders of the IRGC" and "fear that Iranian vessels or missiles will target them."
Iran maintains close conduct with its regional neighbors and will act to prevent the U.S. Navy from acting in the Persian Gulf, according to Fadavi.
Iran is also keeping a close eye on U.S. aircraft carriers, which a range of Iranian military officials have discussed destroying in recent weeks and months.
"The American aircraft carriers, which are the symbol of American military might, are under full oversight of the IRGC," Fadavi was quoted as saying by MEMRI.
"The Americans and the rest of the world know that one of the IRGC navy's operational goals is to destroy the U.S. Navy," he said.
Fadavi additionally revealed that Iran has, "for many years now," been building "models of American destroyers, cruisers, and frigates, and sinking them."
"The Americans do not know most of the details, and their research institutes have presented very rough data regarding the scale models of aircraft carriers that we are building," Fadavi said, adding that the Iranian navy can sink these duplicated U.S. ships "within 50 seconds."
Fadavi said that the Iranian military trains so intensely in fighting U.S. warships so that if war eventually breaks out it can ensure "the defeat and humiliation of the Americans."
"We want to drill operational and tactical operations of attacking an aircraft carrier," he was quoted as saying.
The amendment would further require Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to fully detail any contractor that "has conducted a significant transaction with an Iranian person" or its government.
Israeli defense official: Iran can
break out to nuclear weapons 'very quickly' - Yaakov Lappin - http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Israeli-defense-official-Iran-can-break-out-to-nuclear-weapons-very-quickly-352745
Iran can break out to nuclear weapons "very quickly," and Israel must maintain operational readiness for any threat that may arise, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, director of political-military affairs at the Defense Ministry, warned on Monday.
Speaking in Tel Aviv at a security conference organized by the Israel Defense publication and the Israel Artillery Association, Gilad said the security forecast was not sunny. "Today is a pleasant day. But there are clouds, and a storm, on the horizon," he said. "People don't believe it until it comes," he added.
Iran's nuclear weapons program remains the top threat to Israeli security, he said, describing the Islamic Republic as a "horrible regime" that threatens to exterminate Israel. He referred to a past statement by former Iranian president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said that one atomic bomb would be enough to destroy Israel.
"They're determined to reach nuclear weapons. They want to get to a situation where [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah] Khamenei asks [Ali Akbar] Salehi, [head of the Atomic Energy Association of Iran], can we develop nuclear weapons? And the answer must be yes we can. Not in English, in Persian," Gilad continued.
Iran's strategy is based on the twin goals of getting rid of choking international sanctions, and keeping the option of breaking out to nuclear weapons within "a few months," he said.
"President Obama keeps saying, and I think he means it, we won't tolerate Iran with nuclear weapons. Iran says, okay... we will build the infrastructure to get to nuclear weapons, including missile capabilities, scientists, etc. It's like a runner who can't jump two meters, so he builds a 1.95 meter ramp, and later he can jump from it and get to two meters. This is the greatest danger. There is a possibility Iran will achieve this. It's a potential existential threat," Gilad said.
He noted that Iran has overseen the construction of Hezbollah's arsenal of 100,000 rockets, and spent billions of dollars to build up Hezbollah's firepower, which threatens all of Israel's territory.
"This is a military threat, not a terrorist one," he said, adding, Israel has "not been successful in preventing a buildup [of rockets] in Lebanon." Alleged Israeli action to prevent Hezbollah's armament program, as mentioned by foreign press reports, is the exception, Gilad said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has global command centers for terrorism that are located "everywhere," and planned to "slaughter dozen of Israelis over Passover in Thailand," the senior defense official said. These efforts are "mostly failing," he added.
"Can you imagine nuclear bombs in Iran's possession, and how this will destabilize the region?" If the July 20 deadline for nuclear talks between the international community and Iran is delayed, this would be "excellent for the Iranians, as they want to stop the momentum of sanctions," he added.
Israel must maintain operational readiness, and never knows "when some threat will come," Gilad stated. He praised the country's defense industries for building up a shield against ballistic missile threats, and paid tribute to "unbelievable" intelligence achievements vis-a-vis Iran.
Turning his attention to the Palestinians, Gilad said that should Palestinian Authority security forces take exclusive control of West Bank, there would be a "very high feasibility" of rockets and shelling raining down on greater Tel Aviv.
Gilad expressed skepticism over the chances of Hamas and Fatah achieving real unity, rather than an "image of unity," adding, "I cannot imagine them reconciling. Hamas is determined to take over the PLO. Their strategic plan has never changed, to take over whole of the Middle East, and they don't mind starting in Ramallah."
Addressing the situation in Syria, Gilad said that two al-Qieda organizations, terror groups "without limits," are operating over the northern border, and include 1500 European or foreign passport holders fighting in Syria. "Sooner or later, they will carry out a spectacular terrorist attack in Europe or Israel." Israel has beefed up defenses along the northern border, but the Syrian crisis is also "putting pressure on Jordan," he warned.
"Al-Qaida is new in our neighborhood. It is [now] in Lebanon, Syria, and it is trying but failing to attack Jordan and Israel. In Sinai, it is extending capabilities to Cairo to be able to murder [the Egyptian] president. Either it defeats you or you defeat it."
Israel today "can defeat any combination of enemies," Gilad said, but the moment Iran goes nuclear and triggers an Arab nuclear arms race, the region will become "hell," he said.
New pact restores Hamas to the
Iranian fold with a $200m annual stipend and military aid - http://www.debka.com/article/23940/New-pact-restores-Hamas-to-the-Iranian-fold-with-a-200m-annual-stipend-and-military-aid
The Palestinian Hamas terrorist group has been restored to the Iranian fold and won the promise of an annual allowance of $200 million per year, military assistance and advanced weapons on a par with the hardware supplied to Jihad Islami. debkafile's sources report that this deal was secretly sealed in Doha on Thursday, May 22, at a meeting between Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Hamas's politburo head Khaled Mashaal.
It culminated a month of intense Hamas-Tehran negotiations, which were conducted quietly in parallel with Hamas's unity talks with the rival Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas is now reinstated as a member of the radical Iran-Syrian-Hezbollah Middle Eastern bloc, with all the accoutrements of an ally which it forfeited by turning its back on Bashar Assad at a low moment in the civil war. Tehran has promised to restore the flow of cash and advanced weapons, and go back to training Hamas operatives at courses run by the Revolutionary Guards.
US Secretary of State John Kerry knew this was going on when he met Abbas in London on May 14, but preferred not to raise the issue. Israel's Justice Minister and negotiator, Tzipi Livni, likewise ignored the Hamas-Tehran pact when she talked to Abbas the next day.
Before clinching the deal, Iran required Meshaal to publicly endorse Iran's policy in Syria and his support for Bashar Assad.
The Hamas politburo chief accordingly stated in Doha Thursday night that he "welcomed the position of Tehran toward Syria," adding: "We will never forget Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad's support for the Palestinian nation."
Meshaal was fully backed by his own movement. Shortly before the Kerry-Abbas interview in London, the Hamas Shura Council, its supreme forum for policy and military decisions, carried three resolutions:
1. Hamas would strive to restore its ties with Tehran.
2. Khaled Meshaal would travel to Tehran to discuss the military and financial aspects entailed in the restoration of ties.
3. The revived pact with Iran should not interfere with the steps towards uniting the two Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and reconciling their rulers, Hamas and Fatah.
debkafile's military sources add that Hamas was not only desperate for an influx of funds to its empty coffers, but extremely worried by Iran's massive investment in building up another terrorist organization, Jihad Islami, as its senior military arm in Gaza. It was taking shape as a modern army, larger and better equipped and trained than Hamas' own military wing, Ezz e-Din al-Qassam.
In recent months, hundreds of Jihad fighters were returning home from Iran, after training at Revolutionary Guards courses for commanders and taking instruction as military engineers and technicians for handling the new weapons. Iran was spending large sums on high-quality arms in Libya and getting them smuggled through Egypt into Gaza for Jihad.
Hamas leaders feared that if they did not move fast to repair their ties with Tehran, the Jihad Islami would soon take their place as the dominant military force in the territory.
The deal struck Thursday in Doha confronts Israel with Iran about to be ensconced solidly - not just in Syria and Lebanon, but also on the Gaza Strip to the south. Tehran's most radical surrogate forces, like Hezbollah on Israel's northern border, are being armed to the teeth with the most sophisticated tools of war.
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