Source: Arutz Sheva
Gavriel Queenann
Iran has threatened to start a 'street war' in Tel Aviv - and in the US and Europe - should its nuclear program be attacked.
"Israel is not big enough to launch a military strike on Iran, but if
it takes such a foolish decision, the Iranian military will fight with
the Zionist soldiers in Tel Aviv streets... and will force them out of
the Palestinian soil," Seyed Hossein Naqavi said.
Naqavi also warned, should Tehran's nuclear program be attacked, the battlefield won't be in Iran, but "the entirety of Europe and the US."
"Iranian forces will fight with the enemies with maximum might and
power all throughout the European and US soil, if Iran comes under
attack," he reiterated.
Naqavi also responded to reports Britain might strike Iran's nuclear
sites, saying "a look at the history reveals that the British regime has
been using threat, intimidation, terror and colonialism all throughout
the last 500 years."
"Now a country with such a long record of crimes and colonialist
actions should know very well that the Islamic Republic enjoys a high
military capability today," he added.
Naqavi's remarks have become a part of Tehran's mantra of threatening
counter-strikes as international criticism of its nuclear aspirations
continues to mount.
A recent indictment by the United States of two members of Iran's
foreign covert action Quds force for allegedly plotting the
assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington has served to fuel efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic.
Also, the International Atomic Energy Agency has released a report
asserting that Iran is not only on the verge of being able to build an
atomic bomb, but cited western and Israeli intelligence reports Tehran
had actively sought nuclear weapons technology.
Tehran's bellicose rhetoric has reached a new zenith, however, amid
reports both Britian and Israel were considering independent strikes on
Iran's nuclear facilities.
"Iran does not stand alone in the struggle against Israel," Naqavi
insisted, "Israel will be destroyed by the allies of the Islamic
Republic if she so much as tries to attack us."
However, despite Iran's threats of a 'street war' in Tel Aviv,
Tehran's ability to strike Israel directly is limited. While the Islamic
Republic does possess a small number of long-range missiles capable of
striking Israel, its air force and army would have to move through other
countries in which large US and western forces are operating.
Additionally, tensions between Shiite Persian Iran and the
predominantly Sunni Arab world - especially Saudi Arabia and its Gulf
allies - have limited Tehran's strategic latitude. Analysts say Iran
would have to strike Israel by proxy, relying on Syria, Hizbullah, and
various terror groups like Hamas who are at war with Israel.
Observers note, however, that Iran may not be able to rely on its regional allies to take significant action on its behalf.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is occupied with seven months of
unrest and a growing armed resistance to his regime; while Hizbullah has
found itself under increasing fire from Lebanon's main street for
maintaining its arms and militia's in the name of 'resistance' - which
has drawn Beirut into costly wars with Israel.
Even terror groups in Israel that Iran has sought to turn into
proxies by funding their operations may prove unreliable. Hamas, a
primary Iranian beneficiary, has consistently sought to avoid a serious
Israeli incursion into its Gaza stronghold - which analysts say would be
the likely result of meaningful action taken on Tehran's behalf.
