Posted on 01/18/2005 7:14:27 AM PST by F14 Pilot
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has the military might to deter attacks against it, its defense minister said in remarks published Tuesday, one day after President Bush said he would not rule out military action against Iran.
Ali Shamkhani said the Islamic Republic, which has seen U.S. forces topple regimes in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq (news - web sites) in the last three years, did not fear attack.
"We are able to say that we have strength such that no country can attack us because they do not have precise information about our military capabilities due to our ability to implement flexible strategies," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Shamkhani as saying.
"We can claim that we have rapidly produced equipment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent," he said, without elaborating.
Iran last October announced successful trials of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile with a range of 1,250 miles, putting parts of Europe, as well as Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, within its reach.
Bush said Monday that Washington would not rule out military action against Iran, which he labeled in 2002 an "axis of evil" member alongside Iraq and North Korea, if it was not more forthcoming about its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Iranian officials said they were unconcerned about the threats of military action, which seemed to suggest Washington was eager to tackle Iran in Bush's second term.
"Iran has no fear of foreign enemies' threats...as they are very well aware that the Islamic Republic is not a place for adventurism," the ISNA student news agency quoted influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying.
Bush's comments followed an article in the New Yorker magazine Sunday which said U.S. commando units were conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to identify hidden nuclear and chemical sites for possible future strikes.
Iran denies its nuclear facilities are to be used to make nuclear weapons and Pentagon officials have said the New Yorker report was "riddled with errors."
IRAN UNCONCERNED
Ali Aghamohammadi, head of the Propaganda Office at Iran's Supreme National Security Council, dismissed the New Yorker report as "psychological warfare against Iran."
"The entry of American commandos (into Iran) is not that easy and believing this story would be naive," state radio quoted him as saying.
The European Union insisted Tuesday diplomacy was the right approach with Iran.
"We are working with our Iranian partners in good faith as I trust they are working with us in good faith. We will pursue that path as long as it's possible and fruitful to do so," said Commission external affairs spokeswoman Emma Udwin.
Britain, Germany and France have sought to persuade Tehran to give up technology that can be used to make nuclear warheads in return for incentives such as trade deals and help with a civilian nuclear program.
Mehr news agency, which analysts say has close ties to the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an editorial entitled "Futile espionage" ridiculed U.S. attempts to destabilize Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"The United States is well aware that Iran has strongly withstood U.S. pressure for over 25 years ... Today, the Islamic Republic has acquired massive military might, the dimensions of which still remain unknown, and is prepared to attack any intruder with a fearsome rain of fire and death," it said.
"The U.S. and Israel know that they can never militarily challenge Iran, since attacking the Islamic Republic would be biting off more than they could chew and would only choke them if they attempted it," it added.
ping
"Oh, and we also curse your mustache, by the way."
"Oh, and we also curse your mustache, by the way."
I believe that Iraq said the same thing (twice).
"The United States is well aware that Iran has strongly withstood U.S. pressure for over 25 years ... Today, the Islamic Republic has acquired massive military might, the dimensions of which still remain unknown, and is prepared to attack any intruder with a fearsome rain of fire and death," it said.
"The U.S. and Israel know that they can never militarily challenge Iran, since attacking the Islamic Republic would be biting off more than they could chew and would only choke them if they attempted it," it added.
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If I were one of these power-mad religous whackos, I would not be so bold...obviously they are playing the moment.
I had been wondering where bagdad bob had gone. Or maybe this is the clinton era press secretaries new gig.
The Iranian military in a nutshell*....
* pun intended. they are nuts.
Oh my, where did I leave my instructions for the "Holy hand grenade?"
3. They are trying to make us "think" they have nukes.
Paging Tim...
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
They'd go down quicker than Bubba Jeffy Klintoon's trousers.
If they are bluffing, maybe we should call. If not, maybe we should call. Either way we can set up another democracy in this region. Syria next?
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