During parade commemorating Iran-Iraq War, Maj. Gen. Atoallah Salehi says Iran “longs” for Israel to act so Iran can annihilate it • President Hassan Rouhani says Iranian military is the best defense against Islamic State.
An Iranian military parade that took place in Tehran on Tuesday served as another opportunity for the country’s upper echelon to promise to destroy Israel and attack the United States.
“We will certainly destroy Israel,” declared the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army, Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi, during the parade that launched Defense Week, which commemorates the 35th anniversary of the beginning of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.
“We long for Israel to take action against us as soon as possible so we will be able to destroy it before 25 years are up,” Salehi said, refererring to a recent statement by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicting that Israel would not exist in another quarter century.
According to Salehi, the annihilation of Israel would cleanse the U.S. from Israeli influence.
Other senior Iranian military figures made statements attacking those they see as the “Great Satan” and “Little Satan.”
Gen. Hassan Firuzabadi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, claimed that Israel and the U.S. were sponsoring terrorist organizations. Firuzabadi also criticized U.S. Republicans for their opposition to the nuclear deal, calling them “reactionaries who want to return to the age of the crazy president George W. Bush.”
A CNN reporter present at the parade asked Firuzabadi about the possibility that the Islamic republic might cooperate with the U.S. against the Islamic State group.
“Surely you’re dreaming. The Americans are the ones who created Islamic State. They lie in politics, and they lie on defense,” the general replied.
Another senior military figure, Admiral Ali Fadavi, said, “The American character is completely different from ours, and those differences will never allow for cooperation.”
While Iran is taking an official line against any cooperation with the U.S. on the growing problem presented by Islamic State, President Hassan Rouhani lauded his country’s military as the most reliable force to take on the radical Sunni group.
Rouhani offered military assistance to Middle East countries, saying that so far, Iranian troops “have helped both Iraq and Syria” in the struggle against Islamic State, but insisted that Tehran has no military intentions toward other nations.
In his speech, carried live by state TV, Rouhani said that if “terrorists begin to expand in the region, the only hope will be Iran’s army and the Revolutionary Guards.”
Islamic State has seized a third of both Syria and Iraq following its blitz in the region last year, and has declared a self-styled caliphate in the territory it controls. Other Middle Eastern countries, such as Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia, have seen the emergence of Islamic State affiliates and groups that have declared allegiance to Islamic State.
Rouhani said Middle Eastern nations should not put too much faith in “Western powers as their defenders. Today, our armed forces are the biggest regional power against terrorism.”
Iran has already sent military advisers to neighboring Iraq and the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad, a key Tehran ally, to help in the battle with Islamic State militants but denies sending ground combat forces.
Rouhani also made a veiled offer of Iranian help to Sunni rival Saudi Arabia, though he did not name the kingdom. The Saudis have been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Shiite rebels since March. The advance of the rebels, also known as Houthis, has forced Yemen’s internationally recognized president into self-imposed exile in Saudi Arabia.
Rouhani’s remark can be taken as an effort to reach out to the kingdom in the wake of the landmark deal struck in July between Iran and world powers over Iran’s contested nuclear program.
In Tuesday’s parade, Iran showcased its surface-to-surface missiles, including the solid-fuel Sejjil and the liquid-fuel Ghadr, both with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). Also on display were Russian-made S-200 and Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile systems, designed primarily to track, target and destroy aircraft and cruise missiles.
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Plan on being disappointed, Atoallah old boy.
Plan on being very disappointed.
What the Islamic rabid dogs have developed and are capable of developing is so fantastic that all nations are lining up to buy Iranian made weapon systems. Whahahahahahah
This year so far Iran exported some 43 dollars worth of such weapons. It is likely that they will sell as much as 50 bucks worth by the end of the years if they are still around by then.
Otherwise they spread weapons the beasts buy from Russia, some lovely EU deviants, China… and illegally from bands that rip off weapons from various other sources. I would not be surprised if the Russians back door them on some of the systems sold to Iran.