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Iran dares US to attack
News.com.au ^ | 4-15-2006 | Stefan Smith

Posted on 04/15/2006 8:11:03 AM PDT by Hadean

IRAN has said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States.

"You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.

"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development. Last weekend US news reports said President George W. Bush's administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin.

"We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack."

Advertisement: Iran announced this week it had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel, despite a UN Security Council demand for the sensitive work to be halted by April 28.

The Islamic regime says it only wants to generate atomic energy, but enrichment can be extended to make the fissile core of a nuclear warhead -- something the United States is convinced that "axis of evil" member Iran wants to acquire.

At a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati simply branded the US as a "decaying power" lacking the "stamina" to block Iran's ambitions.

And hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that a US push for tough United Nations sanctions was of "no importance".

"She is free to say whatever she wants," the president replied when asked to respond to comments by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlighting part of the UN charter that provides for sanctions backed up by the threat of military action.

"We give no importance to her comments," he said with a broad smile.

On Thursday, Ms Rice said that faced with Iran's intransigence, the United States "will look at the full range of options available to the United Nations".

"There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community," Rice said, after Iran also dismissed a personal appeal from the UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief must give a report at the end of April on Iranian compliance with the Security Council demand. In Tehran he said that after three years of investigations Iran's activities were "still hazy and not very clear".

Although the United States has been prodding the council to take a tough stand against the Islamic republic, including possible sanctions, it has run into opposition from veto-wielding members Russia and China.

Representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany are to meet in Moscow Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

In seeking to deter international action, Iran has been playing up its oil wealth, its military might in strategic Gulf waters and its influence across the region -- such as in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

(snip)


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: gwot; iran; iranstrikes; israel; nuclear; safavi; un; wot
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1 posted on 04/15/2006 8:11:06 AM PDT by Hadean
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To: Hadean

Baghdad Bob is now in Iran?


2 posted on 04/15/2006 8:14:02 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn
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To: Hadean

The mouse that roared?


3 posted on 04/15/2006 8:16:02 AM PDT by baltodog (R.I.P. Balto: 2001(?) - 2005)
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To: mtbopfuyn

No, this is his brother Timmy Tehran.


4 posted on 04/15/2006 8:16:09 AM PDT by Hadean (What do you call a lawyer on a diving board?................................SKEET!)
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To: Hadean

Lord of the Rings - Theoden before battle at Helm's Deep!
"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow; The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow."


5 posted on 04/15/2006 8:16:19 AM PDT by FreeRep
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To: mtbopfuyn
Baghdad Bob is now in Iran?

That was first thought. He used to grin a lot at first, until he became frantic.

6 posted on 04/15/2006 8:18:07 AM PDT by DejaJude (Admiral Clark said, "Our mantra today is life, liberty and the pursuit of those who threaten it!")
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To: Hadean

Geez...they couldn't defeat Iraq after ten years....reduced themselves to sending small children into minefields to clear them....

We defeated Saddam's entire military in 100 hours.....

Yawn....if an Iranian General speaks...does anyone really listen???? They're just a bunch of Persian Pansies....


7 posted on 04/15/2006 8:18:40 AM PDT by nevergore (“It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.”)
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To: Hadean

"Yer welcome." - Jimmuh

8 posted on 04/15/2006 8:18:54 AM PDT by SlowBoat407 (The best stuff happens just before the thread snaps.)
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To: Hadean
What if we turned Iran into a ceramic bowl? Would it be us that finished it, General?

9 posted on 04/15/2006 8:19:01 AM PDT by William Terrell (Individuals can exist without government but government can't exist without individuals.)
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To: Hadean
Interesting game of Chicken they are playing.
Either he is very stupid, or Iran has available to them weapons we are not aware of - yet. The third option is that he underestimates the US and is betting the entire farm that we won't do anything.
I doubt seriously if they are that stupid.

Even in back in high school, it was wise not to underestimate the little loud mouth pip-squeak; sometimes he was just a stupid loud mouth, sometimes he knew something you didn't know he knew.
I do hope we do our homework very well.

Cordially,
GE
10 posted on 04/15/2006 8:19:10 AM PDT by GrandEagle
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To: FreeRep

yaknow what, i think we should nuke them just because they're so annoying.


11 posted on 04/15/2006 8:20:51 AM PDT by wildcatf4f3 (Islam Schmislam blahblahblah, enough already!)
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To: GrandEagle
The third option is that he underestimates the US and is betting the entire farm that we won't do anything.

Or perhaps doesn't care what we do as long as they get to trigger their end days and earn their ticket to their virgins in paradise.

12 posted on 04/15/2006 8:21:59 AM PDT by thoughtomator (That new ring around Uranus is courtesy of the IRS)
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To: wildcatf4f3
If they ever grow the cajones to attack us, we'll show them our fury, just like we showed the world with Japan.
13 posted on 04/15/2006 8:24:02 AM PDT by Imgr8t
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To: thoughtomator
And then there is that...
I have a good friend from Lebanon. His take on the whole Middle East situation has always been that the original target was Iran and Syria, and that we had to get a way into it.
14 posted on 04/15/2006 8:24:53 AM PDT by GrandEagle
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To: Hadean

"I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one,"

Where have I heard that before? Sounds like he got the demorats talking points.


15 posted on 04/15/2006 8:25:49 AM PDT by crashthe24
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To: nevergore
Geez...they couldn't defeat Iraq after ten years....

Exactly.

16 posted on 04/15/2006 8:27:59 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (((172 * 3.141592653589793238462) / 180) * 10 = 30.0196631)
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To: wildcatf4f3

They remind me of the Black Knight character in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Arthur: You're a crazy person.
Black Knight: The Black Knight always wins! Let's fight! Come on then.
Arthur cuts off the Black Knight's other leg.



17 posted on 04/15/2006 8:29:22 AM PDT by FreeRep
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To: Hadean
"You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it,"

This nut believes that bearding the US into attacking Iran will bring the final battle and the Caliphate (Muslim Domination of the World) He seems to think Allah is a nut too.

18 posted on 04/15/2006 8:30:59 AM PDT by Mike Darancette (Proud soldier in the American Army of Occupation..)
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To: William Terrell
What if we turned Iran into a ceramic bowl?

I prefer a glass parking lot, myself.


19 posted on 04/15/2006 8:31:00 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: Hadean

The general population of Iran is basically moderate. Getting rid of the Jihadists and the corrupt religious leaders of the country has to be a priority of the whole world. That might be said of a number of Arabic countrys dominated by the nutcase religious leaders.

That advice might by passed on the our own so-called religious leaders who have a following of protestant fanatics.


20 posted on 04/15/2006 8:34:52 AM PDT by hgro
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