IRGC Quds Force Official:

US, Zionists' attack against Iran equal to razing Israel

Rasa - A top official at the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force warned that Tehran will raze Israel to the ground in case the US or Tel Aviv take military action against Iran.

News ID: 2558

Date: 22 May 2015 - 02:48

RNA - "In case of the smallest wrong action by the US and the Zionists against Iran, we will raze Israel to the ground easily," Shirazi warned, addressing a ceremony in the Southeastern city of Kerman on Wednesday evening, FNA reported.

He underlined that Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei's warning that Iran will give an unforgettable lesson to the enemy is serious since the "the Iranian Armed Forces and the resistance front enjoy a high level of power".

In relevant remarks on Wednesday, top Military Aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi described the recent statements of Ya'alon about nuking Iran as an empty threat, warning that the Islamic Republic has tens of thousands of missiles ready to wreak havoc on Israel.

"The Zionists and the US are aware of the power of Iran and Hezbollah, and they know that over 80,000 (Iranian) missiles are ready to rain down on Tel Aviv and Haifa; Iran is a powerful country which will give a crushing response to them," Major General Rahim Safavi said in reaction to Ya'alon's threats against Iran.

He reiterated that the Israeli officials remember well their defeat in the 33-day war against Hezbollah as well as the 22-day and 50-day wars against the people of Gaza, while when it comes to Iran, they are facing a much tougher enemy that is a powerful state.

He further reminded the recent statements made by the Iranian Supreme Leader, and said as Ayatollah Khamenei, who is the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Armed Forces, has said if the Zionists make a silly move, "we will ruin Haifa and Tel Aviv".

"The Zionists have many problems and they know that Iran is too powerful for them grapple with," Rahim Safavi, a former top commander of the IRGC, added.

The top military advisor said that such boastful remarks by the US and Israeli officials are only meant to serve as a ploy.

"We have displayed part of our military capabilities while we have kept many of our achievements and capabilities hidden to outsiders; our response will be crushing not just to the Zionist regime, but to any other aggressor who intends to take action against us," he added.

Ya'alon claimed last week that Israel would attack entire civilian neighborhoods during any future assault on Gaza or Lebanon.

Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem, Ya'alon threatened that “we are going to hurt Lebanese civilians to include kids of the family. We went through a very long deep discussion … we did it then, we did it in [the] Gaza Strip, we are going to do it in any round of hostilities in the future”.

The Israeli official also appeared to threaten to drop a nuclear bomb on Iran, although he said “we are not there yet”.

In response to a question about Iran, Ya'alon said that “in certain cases” when “we feel like we don’t have the answer by surgical operations” Israel might take “certain steps” such as the Americans did in “Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing at the end the fatalities of 200,000”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Gholam Ali Khoshrou lashed out at the Israeli defense minister for raising the possibility of using atomic weapons against Iran, and asked the UN Security Council to condemn the remarks as threat against the international peace and innocent civilians.

"Moshe Ya'alon's recent remarks and the Zionist official's implied reference to the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic like what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also his threats against the Lebanese civilians, including the women and children, shows more than ever the regime's aggressive nature," Khoshrou said in a letter today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Lithuanian Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite, whose country holds the rotating UN Security council presidency this month.

He underlined that the Israeli minister's comments is an evidence showing that the regime possesses atomic weapons and isn’t afraid of using it against other countries.

"The impudent remarks have challenged the primary principles ruling the armed conflicts and the international humanitarian rights and weaken the international peace and security and therefore, the UNSC is expected to condemn these irresponsible remarks and clear threats of using nuclear bomb and massacre of civilians," the letter added.

Khoshrou also called on the UNSC president to release the letter as the Council's document.

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