Iran To "Blow Up The Heart Of Israel" If Attacked, Says Top Official

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will "blow up the heart of Israel" if the United States or the Jewish state attacked it first, a top official with Iran's most powerful military force – the Revolutionary Guard – warned Friday.

Cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, who is the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Guard, said that if a U.S. or Israeli missile lands in Iran, Iranian missiles will hit Israel in retaliation.

"Should a single American or Zionist missile land in our country, before the dust settles, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel," Zolnour was quoted as saying by the state IRNA news agency.

Iran and Israel are archenemies and anti-Israeli stance is a trademark for the hardline Guard. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has since 2005 often called for Israel's destruction and predicted demise for the Jewish state.

Though common, Zolnour's remarks appear to be ratcheting up the rhetoric ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the West later this month over Iran's controversial uranium enrichment program.

The U.S. and Israel have accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons but Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating power, not a bomb. Israel has said it favors a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff but has not ruled out a military strike over fears that Iran may develop nuclear weapons.

Israel maintains a doctrine of "nuclear ambiguity" and has never confirmed nor denied having its own nuclear weapons program. It considers Iran a serious threat not only because of Tehran's nuclear program but also because of Iran's arsenal of long-range missiles, which can be fitted with nuclear warheads and are capable of striking the Jewish state.

Tehran is equipped with Shahab-3 missiles which have a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers). Israel is about 625 miles (1,000 kilometers) west of Iran.

Iran's missile program and its nuclear work – much of it carried out in secrecy – have long been a concern for the West, which fears Tehran is intent on developing an atomic weapons capability and the missiles to deploy such warheads.

In September, the revelation of a secret uranium enrichment facility near the Iranian holy city of Qom, represented a coup for Western intelligence and put Iran on defense. Within days of intense diplomatic activity, Tehran entered landmark nuclear negotiations with the U.S. and other world powers – talks that have since somewhat eased tensions between the two sides.

Oct. 25 has been set as a date for an inspection of the Qom site by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Separately, a meeting is slated for Oct. 19 in Vienna with Iran, the U.S., France and Russia to discuss details of a deal that would lead to more cooperation from Iran on the enrichment process.

Comments

[wwoody]

Before starting a war one first must understand the full implication and consequences of war. Attacking Iran is not the same as attacking Iraq, in the early days of " Shock and Awe" where everyone said our boys would be home in 6 months, that was just over eight and half years ago and we're still fighting today. the first casualty of war is the truth .

[AtheistUS]

I'm not sure anybody plans to start a war.

But, a side note: not everybody of course was blind or corrupted before Iraq war. After all, 23 senators voted against it.

[tailgateshirts]

US/Israel will just make sure to knock out all of the Iranian missile locations at the same time .... as if these positions have not been mapped out in anticipati­on...

[breakingpoint]

and you don' t think Iran knows where all the Israeli WMD are?
do you know how small Israel is?
Bio-weapons plants in the heart of Israeli cities, not to mention Demona is right out in the open.
Israel is playing a dangerous game.

Iran is larger than Alaska with 70 Million people, mostly fighting age
Israel is the size of New Jersey has 7 million people most who are old, 2 million who are Arab.
If Israel attack Iran they better count on God to intervene because the US won't - where would we get the troops? Take them out of Iraq and Afghanistan bring back the draft? Not to mention there's no way Americans are going to pay $10+ a gal for gas?

[CigarGod]

I little more perspective:

Israel is 8300 square miles or 1/16 the size of california.

Iran is 640,000 square miles or 4 times the size of california.

[Thabit]

How would Iran find a point to aim at if the want to hit Israel in the heart ? i have never seen evidence that Israel HAS a heart

[CigarGod]

I have witnessed their cold, cold heart for most of my life.

[AtheistUS]

Can you classify countries on those that have a "heart" and those that have not?

Can you please write here just a few examples?

Countries 1, 2, 3 have a heart, because...

And countries 1 , 2, 3 do not have a heart because...

[wwoody]

If I recall reading about " The Phony War", Churchill called it the "The Twilight War", Western Europe was strangely calm for seven months, then Hell broke loose. This why today it is so very important to talk to people that we may not always agree with ( Iran ). Hoping this is not the calm, before the storm .

[davidbennett]

This isn't a comment. It is a request for information from the author of this article:

Where did Mojtaba Zolnour say this and to what audience?

[hippie4ever]

wwoody, I'd argue that we are in World War III. American forces are deployed in all the world's "hot" spots and there is an ideological divide no longer based on economics but religion. Historically this has been the catalyst for major warfare. True, we haven't had huge numbers of casualties, yet, but remember that WWI was called "The Phony War" for the first 18 months when little happened.

[amalfedup]

I would argue you are wrong on the religion issue. If you look closely, we are deployed in poor Islamic countries that don't have the means to defend themselves, yet we are still best friends with the heart of Islam, Saudi Arabia. Funny how the poor always are the first to die.

[TheLight]

Obama's way is catastrophic What it is that Liberalism refuses to comprehend is this: That the hearts of many men are evil...Whe­n the Iranian president desires to wipe Israel out, this is malice and it is evil. Liberals refuse to understand this danger and believe that evil can be reasoned with..Obam­a thinks that with the force of his personality he can reason with the Iranian president and others.... Because liberals everywhere do not want to accept that men are evil, they lead us into danger. TheLight "

posted Nov 04, 2008 at 00:05:41

" Please elect Obama... For six months there will be rejoicing for Barack. But then all will go to hell. ...With American troops gone from the middle east, Isreal, feeling abandoned will attack Iran, which will respond in kind. The US will bungle the resulting military operation and a carrier will be sunk in the Gulf by Iranian missles...­Then China and Russia and Islamofascists will perceive the gross weakness of Obama and attack Isreal with mass ground troops leading to Armagaddon. There, American forces, hastily assembled, will be obliterated. Nukes will fly then...Lib­eralism destoyed Greece, Rome and The British Empire and it was always going to lead to the end of all things. TheLight "

posted Oct 27, 2008 02:15:22

Is anyone listening???

[Thabit]

After 8 years under Bush and Cheney you do NOT have to tell liberals about evil men . And what of the evil of using white phosporus bombs against bottle rockets and rocks as Israel recently did. Conservatives never "Conserve " anything but the evil of corporations dealing with dictators to rob countrys of their natural resorces or our nation of its treasure for a "defense" that they spend more money on than the rest of the world COMBINED . Not only did we listen we woke up and voted for a different direction , just hope it wasnt too late.

If Al Qaeda wanted to destroy the America we know and love ......
They're too late ......Repu­blicans beat them to it

[tailgateshirts]

its been over 6 months and I dont see any troops leaving the middle east, i see more preparing to be deployed..­.

[sizogee]

Aaaaaaaaha­hahahaaaa! I love satire.

Good work Nostradamus.

[wwoody]

The chicken has come home to roost. Bush era is over, the slogan " Bring it on " is no more. Yet people of the world especially those of the Middle East culture is very suspicious of us, reason being we bombed and invaded Iraq for no reason, telling the whole world that Iraq has " WMD" and found none there. Then we start bombing and invading Afghanistan, so guess who in the middle of things "Iran". Fighting on both sides of her borders East and West

[duxguts]

Imagine that, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while considering attacking Iran because they want to build something that we have built thousands of time over and actually used twice.

[MikeDu]

This is precisely why the U.S. doesn't want Iran to have a deterrent capability. If Iran had a nuclear deterrent the u.S. would no longer be able to strike the country with impunity.

Several years ago I wrote up a list of countries the U.S. had dropped bombs on since the 1970s. It was a VERY long list .From Grenada to Lebanon to Panama to Syria and every place inbetween. At the time I wrote my list the U.S. bombing of foreign countires had been done entirely with impunity. Then 9-11 happened.

[phute]

But America doesn't want to 'hit' iran - put simply - the cost is way too high - both monetary and politically.
America is already involved up to the hilt in the ME - Iraq and Afghanistan - it can't get itself in any deeper.
The biggest danger for America is that if Israel does go ahead and attack Iran then US forces in the region will be under immediate attack wherever they are deployed in the ME.
And then they will take control of thr Straits - and screw America via an oil crisis.
They don't have to bother responding to Israel's attack - they're smart players - they have other ways of responding.
And the biggest pay off - Israel's zion.ists are left glaringly isolated.
Noone else in the ME is gagging for war as much as them despite their protestations - and this will be the proof.

[wwoody]

World War 3, would last only a moment, in that moment time would have stood still for eternity. And from that moment on life as we know it would have changed. Fallout would cover the Earth in matter of days, and the living would envy the dead. The cost is too high for humanity, at a price we don't have to pay. So pull up a chair and sit down to the table ....and talk.

[Loveforlife]

Pray for Israel.

[FogBelter]

I was watching the interview that Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno had on CNN with Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton and Secretary Gates said something I found puzzling. Gates said that one deterrent he felt Iran might have in pursuing a Nuclear Bomb is the threat it would set off a Nuclear Arms race amongst its neighbors, and I'm thinking:

"But doesn't Israel have Nuclear Weapons already? What nation besides Israel is a greater threat to Iran? Israel is the only country in the region that has threatened to unilaterally attack Iran. Am I missing something here?"

I think that Secretary Gates needs to come up with another concern that Iran might have beyond the threat of a regional arms race. That argument is specious at best.

[vascopyjama]

But you forget, Israel is different.

What I find really weird about the entire nuclear debate is how the countries who have nuclear weapons say it is wrong for other countries to have them.

And then to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council you have to have nuclear weapons. Somehow that doesn't make me feel too secure.

[FogBelter]

To my memory, the only Nation on Earth that used Nuclear Weapons in the mass murder of civilians and the destruction of cities was the United States of America. It kind of makes our moral authority on the subject of Nuclear Weapons laughable.

[baba2nde]

Seriously? Iran would dare to retaliate IF ATTACKED? I need some of that stuff AP is smoking.

[joabear]

Cynthia Boaz.Asst. Prof. of Political Science, Consultant on Nonviolent Action and Strategy
Posted: October 9, 2009 06:08 PM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index .A Discussion with a Nobel Laureate: Shirin Ebadi and the Struggle for Democracy in Iran, Part I


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-boaz/a-discussion-with-a-nobel_b_316006.html