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Page added on July 4, 2012
Iran says can destroy US bases “minutes after attack”
Iran has threatened to destroy U.S. military bases across the Middle East and target Israel within minutes of being attacked, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, as Revolutionary Guards extended test-firing of ballistic missiles into a third day.
Israel has hinted it may attack Iran if diplomacy fails to secure a halt to its disputed nuclear energy program. The United States also has mooted military action as a last-resort option but has frequently nudged the Israelis to give time for intensified economic sanctions to work against Iran.
“These bases are all in range of our missiles, and the occupied lands (Israel) are also good targets for us,” Amir Ali Haji Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying.
Haji Zadeh said 35 U.S. bases were within reach of Iran’s ballistic missiles, the most advanced of which commanders have said could hit targets 2,000 km (1,300 miles) away.
“We have thought of measures to set up bases and deploy missiles to destroy all these bases in the early minutes after an attack,” he added.
It was not clear where Haji Zadeh got his figures on U.S. bases in the region. U.S. military facilities in the Middle East are located in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Turkey, and it has around 10 bases further afield in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.
SCEPTICISM
Defence analysts are often sceptical about what they describe as exaggerated military assertions by Iran and say the country’s military capability would be no match for sophisticated U.S. defence systems.
Iranian media reported that this week’s three-day “Great Prophet 7” tests involved dozens of missiles and domestically-built drones that successfully destroyed simulated air bases.
Iran has upped its fiery anti-West rhetoric in response to the launch on Sunday of a total European Union embargo on buying Iranian crude oil – the latest calibrated increase in sanctions aimed at pushing Tehran into curbing nuclear activity.
Revolutionary Guards commanders have also threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes out of the Gulf, in response to the increasingly harsh sanctions.
Major powers have said they would tolerate no obstruction of commercial traffic through the Strait, and the United States maintains a formidable naval presence in the Gulf region.
Iran accused the West of disrupting global energy supplies and creating regional instability and says its forces can dominate the vital waterway to provide security.
“The policy of the Islamic Republic is based on maintaining security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz for all ships and oil tankers,” Iranian English-language state Press TV quoted the chairman of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, as saying.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to covertly develop all the components required to produce nuclear weapons, accusations the Iranian officials have repeatedly denied.
The world’s No. 5 oil exporter maintains that it is enriching uranium for nuclear fuel only to generate more energy for a rapidly growing population.
6 Comments on "Iran says can destroy US bases “minutes after attack”"
BillT on Wed, 4th Jul 2012 2:25 pm
Does the Empire really want to find out what a real military can do to it’s resources? Not if they are smart, but then, what has the Empire done in the last 30 years that was even close to intelligent? With a thousand missiles or so, only one in ten reaching their target is enough. And a ground war in Iran would send thousands of filled body bags back to the Us in the first wave. No? Are you sure?
Remember Vietnam? NO? Well look it up. Major defeat after costing America over #1 trillion 2012 dollars and 58,000+ dead and 300,000+ wounded. Google Iran and look at the terrain. Look at how close all of the oil countries are when a missile flies at mach 2.
Hugh Culliton on Wed, 4th Jul 2012 2:30 pm
I find the smug overconfidence of the US disturbing. Yes, they spend more on military assets than the rest of the world combined. And yes, in a stand up fight, they would make short work of Iran’s conventional forces, BUT: Unlike Iraq, Iran hasn’t been weakened by a decade of sanctions and the loss of a war that saw most of it’s military hardware destroyed. Iran is a much larger country both in area and population. I’m sure American point missile defences can take out most of her missiles, but only 1 or 2 need to hit Israel for things to get out of control very quickly. In Gulf War 1, we saw that top notch ABM systems were still missing those piece of crap Scuds. Iran’s rockets are much better than Scuds.
On the other side, the US has been fighting 2 very expensive wars for over a decade. She has sustained many casualties and strained her personnel base to the limit. The US forces need to rest and refit before they will be ready for another adventure. Committing them to action right now would be risky in terms of moral.
johe bloegh on Wed, 4th Jul 2012 7:26 pm
You will take this as a pro-US post, however, it is not. The US is what it is, because oil producing nations should have limited their production to ensure that future generations of their own progeny get their fair share. Shame on you Middle East.
The US invaded, occupied and set up a proxy government in Iraq, using minimal effort, justified by the UN mandate to “search” for WMD’s. Now we have Iraq’s oil. The “world” is convinced that Iran has nukes. So, turning Iran into 12″ inches of glass (thermo-nuclear bombs do that to sand) and drilling through it to get more of the depleted oil reserve is a VERY REAL POSSIBILITY. Americans were taught 30 years ago to hate Iran.
When Americans can’t afford the gas to drive to work, they could care less about how many Iranians need to die to afford it again. They will not even care that it is only 5 Months worth of oil in total. Oil is the satan. It is the end of us all.
Arthur on Wed, 4th Jul 2012 8:31 pm
The US should spend the trillions it does not have (but can print on rainy afternoon) on renewing it’s energy base rather than getting their collective *sses kicked yet again. Bill mentioned Vietnam, which maybe had 60 million people at the time and additionally was allied to the southern half of it. It did not help. During the last debacle the neocon clouseaus handed over Iraq on a silver platter to the Iranian sphere of influence for the modest sum of 3-5 trillion bucks. And than there is Somalia and Lebanon. Ouch. China, btw has 20+ times more people than Vietnam. You are sure you want trouble with them? The US likes to think it won WW2. But in reality the USSR-Germany ‘theater’ was were the real action was. The US forced Japan into attacking PH; Japan at the time had an economy 1/10th the size of that of the US, so they could join the war in Europe when it was already almost over to grab as much territory as possible and divide the loot between them and their Soviet buddies. In other words, the military track record of the US is not that military superb to even think about world hegemony.
Arthur on Wed, 4th Jul 2012 8:36 pm
If I were Iran I would not bomb any Israeli target whatsoever or even American targets in the Gulf. It would give an excuse to USrael to retaliate. I would rain my missiles on everything connected to the oil industry in the Gulf. That’s the best way to hurt the agressors and their economies. For the die-hard peakers here this would give the additional benefit that western societies no longer can postpone the inevitable transition towards a more sustainable energy base.
PETE on Thu, 5th Jul 2012 2:28 am
I’m with Arthur, they may use their sunburn and yakhonts to take out most all of the persian floating forces, but the missles will destroy the big oil production and shipping facilities in the gulf, red sea and caspian that are not solely linked to russia or china.
with so much smoke the small pt persian boats can then land and destroy whats left and other targets like water desalinization plants. the satellites will be blind.
Go for the juggler or go down in a wimper, Irans leaders are deadmen walking, M.A.D.