Iran says it treats Israeli military threats as American
06 September, 2012
DUBAI: Iran makes no distinction between US and Israeli interests and will retaliate against both countries if attacked, an Iranian military commander said on Wednesday. The comments came after the White House denied an Israeli news report that it was negotiating with Tehran to keep out of a future Israel-Iran war and as US President Barack Obama fends off accusations from his election rival that he is too soft on Tehran. "The Zionist regime separated from America has no meaning, and we must not recognise Israel as separate from America," Ali Fadavi, naval commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. "On this basis, today only the Americans have taken a threatening stance towards the Islamic Republic," Fadavi said. "If the Americans commit the smallest folly they will not leave the region safely." Iran - which has missiles that could reach Israel and US targets in the region - has conducted military exercises and unveiled upgraded weapons in recent months, aiming to show it can defend itself against any strike against its nuclear sites. Israel - thought to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons - says the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran would pose a threat to its existence. Tehran denies it is developing weapons and says its nuclear programme is peaceful. With the approach of US elections in November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a tougher stance against Iran - implicitly knocking Obama's emphasis on diplomatic and sanctions pressure to halt Iranian nuclear work. While Israel would expect US backing if it decided to strike Iran, the top US general has suggested Washington would not be drawn into a conflict. "I don't want to be complicit if they choose to do it," Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey as saying. Netanyahu abruptly ended a meeting of Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday, saying someone in the forum had leaked details of its discussions on Iran. Any decision to go to war against Iran would, by Israeli law, require the approval of the security cabinet. One government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no such decisions had been on the table at Tuesday's meeting. Citing an unnamed source who had taken part in the security cabinet's first session on Tuesday, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Israel's intelligence agencies gave the 14-member group conflicting views on Iran's nuclear programme. "The security of the state and of its citizens depends on the ability to have confidential and in-depth discussions in the security cabinet someone severely damaged the trust that Israel's citizens put in this forum," Netanyahu told the group, according to a statement from the prime minister's office. End.
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