Saturday, August 04, 2007

Tehran Times: "On annihilation of the Zionist regime, he said the issue is related to the Palestinians"

The actual title of this little item is "Attack on Iran would be suicide for U.S.: Rafsanjani." The article does not say what exactly would be suicidal about such an attack--no mention of invincible military forces--but only that "it would be regarded as a suicide for that country." This is typical of the pronouncements of Iranian politicians: hyperbole evaporating into vagueness even before the sentence is over.
Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Saturday that if the U.S. dares to launch any military attack on Iran it would be regarded as a suicide for that country.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya TV channels on Friday night, he said the issue is regarded as a psychological warfare and there is no doubt that the role of UN Security Council would be highlighted but there are lots of concerns as to what extent such measures would bear fruits.

"We are now facing various threats and challenges but we believe that the past experiences should be used in order to dissuade enemies from targeting us. We have always proved that we are capable enough to thwart plots hatched by the enemies," he said.

Based on historical experiences, when bullying powers are trapped in a quagmire they might take illogical measures to save themselves, Rafsanjani said.

"I believe that the U.S., UK, and their allies are now experiencing a very tough situation in Iraq and Afghanistan and seek a way out of the crisis," he said.

There is no doubt that such suicidal measures would create problems for both sides but they would be the final loser with their strategies leaving devastating consequences for the whole region, he said.

Some Arabs have questioned that in case the U.S. targets Iran's nuclear facilities, what would be Iran's response, asked the reporter.

There is no doubt that Iran has various options and plans on the table to give a crushing response to such an attack, he said.

On existing hurdles to expansion of ties between Iran and Arab countries, he said it would be to the benefit of Arab countries to have much closer ties with Iran.

On rifts between Shiites and Sunnis, he said there are no ideological differences between the two groups but it is the enemies of Islam that try to create rifts among them.
"No ideological differences"--I never realized.
"As a united Ummah, we support Palestinians who are not Shiite but are our Sunni brothers and the same applies to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Afghanistan," he said.

"We regard the Zionist regime as illogical and believe that they have occupied the Palestinian territory and won support of western powers particularly the U.S.," he pointed out.

"On annihilation of the Zionist regime, he said the issue is related to the Palestinians because they are the ones who are fighting with them," he said.[...]
Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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