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Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned of a harsh response to an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear reactor.
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| By Ellis Shuman February 5, 2002 |
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"If Israel attacks Iran, we will respond in a way no Israeli politician has ever dreamed about," warned Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani yesterday. Asked by al-Jazeera television if he was referring to nuclear weapons, Shamkhani gave a negative reply, but added that "time would tell" the nature of Iran's response.
Shamkhani said he wasn't worried about the possibility of an Israeli preemptive strike on the nuclear plant being built, with the aid of Russian experts, near the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr. Iranian media frequently warns that Israel would strike the plant in an attack similar to the 1981 air attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in Osirak.
"Iran is not a small country like Iraq. Iran has a powerful artillery, a disciplined army, and skilled air defenses," Shamkhani said.
Military sources in Israel said that Shamkhani's interview proved, once again, that Iran's long-range missiles and its development of nuclear capabilities were not for self-defense purposes, but rather targeted at Israel's destruction. "The Iranians are no longer hiding behind false statements but are now stating the truth openly," one senior official said, quoted in Maariv.
Shamkhani, who has served as Iran's Defense Minister for the past seven years, sees Israel as Iran's major enemy, Yediot Aharonot reported. In his speeches, he has frequently referred to Israel as the "Little Satan." Shamkhani has been directly responsible for the development of the Bushehr nuclear reactor, and has maintained close contacts with the Russian security establishment, which has provided the project with experts and technical advice.
Israel and the United States have tried unsuccessfully to persuade Russia to stop its military and nuclear energy cooperation with Iran. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to Moscow in September 2001 was reportedly timed to coincide with Shamkhani's own visit, during which the Iranian minister was set to close arms deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to media reports. After learning of Sharon's itinerary, Shamkhani cancelled his trip.
Israeli leaders raise Iranian threat
Sharon, Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer will all reportedly raise the Iran threat in their talks with Bush administration officials in the United States this week. In addition to the Iranian missile and nuclear threats, the Israeli officials will raise the issues of Iran's provision of weapons to the Palestinian Authority, and its support of the Hizbullah and Islamic terror groups in the territories.
In an interview with William Safire published Monday in the New York Times, Sharon said, "One dangerous development is the increased activity between Iran and Iraq." Sharon said the two countries were "discussing the possibility of Iranian planes flying over Iraq to Damascus, part of the airlift of weapons, especially rockets, and then by truck through Syria to the Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon."
Iran has stationed its elite Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon and is turning the country into a powder keg, Peres told reporters in New York on Monday. Reiterating statements he made in the Knesset last week, Peres claimed the Iranians had supplied Hizbullah with 10,000 rockets, with ranges of 13 to 44 miles, "so that they can hit the heart of Israel."
Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh told Israel Radio Tuesday that Iran's goal was to "wipe Israel off the map." Iran's leaders believe that "from a religious point of view, Israel has no right to exist. It's army, the rockets in south Lebanon are all meant for this purpose. This is the regime's ideology and strategy." Sneh added that Israel had "no intention of attacking Iran."
Some security sources believe that Iran's recent warnings against Israel are a direct result of Israel's international campaign detailing the Iranian threat, Yediot Aharonot reported. Previously Israel had refrained from antagonizing Iran with aggressive warnings in fear that this would result in harsh Iranian responses.
The change in Israel's strategic policy vis-à-vis Iran was formulated in the wake of that country's involvement in the Karine A weapons shipment, the paper said. The complete release of all restraints, leading to this week's statements and warnings by Israeli leaders, followed U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union address inclusion of Iran in the "axis of evil" and as a supporter of international terror.
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