Top > World > 2006 > January > 2006-01-30

Iran Saber-Rattling Continues with West

The highest-ranking officer in the infamous Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran has warned the United States and United Kingdom it will retaliate with missiles if attacked in the future. He is also accusing the Western allies of provoking unrest in oil-rich southwestern Iran and providing bomb-making materials to Iranian dissidents. Iran is facing mounting pressure to curb its nuclear research as it is assumed a goal of Iran is to gain nuclear weapons to attack others with.

Two bombings last week killed at least nine people in a southwestern city near the border with southern Iraq where thousands of British soldiers are based. State-run television quoted the general as saying Iran has no intention of invading any country. But he said it will take "effective defense measures if attacked." Iran for its part has threatened to destroy Israel and its president has expressed support for those committed to such a goal. The area bombed last week, though, is a predominantly Arab populated province of Iran which has seen numerous instances of unrest over the past twelve months.

Iran`s Revolutionary Guards are a separate organization from the regular armed forces, founded after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Guards even have their own air, naval and ground components. The chief of the Revolutionary Guards also noted that Iran has a 1,300-mile-range missile, of the Shihab series, with enough range to strike both Israel and U.S.-U.K.-led coalition forces in Iraq.