The Gates of Hell

CNN.com

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have begun a military exercise and issued a warning that Israel and U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf would be prime targets if Iran is attacked.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard special forces participate in military manoeuvers at an undisclosed location.

The Web site of the elite Iranian force posted a statement late Monday announcing the military drill, which it said involved “missile squads,” but did not say where it was taking place. Iran’s guards and national army hold regular exercises two or three times a year, but the statement did not say whether this drill was one of them or if it was a special exercise.

Israel’s military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that U.S. officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons.

The Iranian Web Site quoted guard official Ali Shirazi as saying that Israel’s coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and U.S. warships in the Gulf would be among the first targets if Iran comes under attack.

“The Zionist regime is pushing the White House to prepare for a military strike on Iran,” Shirazi was quoted as saying. “If such a stupidity is done by them, Tel Aviv and the U.S. naval fleet in the Persian Gulf will be the first targets which will be set on fire in Iran’s crushing response.”

Shirazi is a cleric who represents supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the guards’ naval force. Khamenei has the final say over all state matters.

“The first shot by the U.S. on Iran will set the U.S. vital interests in the world” at risk, Shirazi said, according to the Web site.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 7:32 am and is filed under USA, Wars and Rumors of Wars, iran. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.