Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
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On Sunday, IRNA quoted Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (also known as the Pasdaran or Revolutionary Guard), as saying that Iran would retaliate with new domestically-produced anti-radar ballistic missiles if Israel attacks the Islamic Republic. Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Sunday, Hajizadeh said that Iran was in the final stages of producing new anti-radar ballistic missiles with a range of 300 kilometres, “able to target any radar centres on land or sea with high accuracy and destroy it several times faster than the speed of sound”.
Hajizadeh announced that Iran would start a three-day military drill on 2 July in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province that would include missile launches of various types. The drills are in response to an EU-brokered embargo on Iranian oil exports, which comes into effect on Sunday. On Sunday, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi downplayed the sanctions’ effect, saying, “These sanctions have existed for many years, nothing’s happened, so, one shouldn’t anticipate anything new”. Western nations suspect Iran, which is already under four sets of UN Security Council sanctions, of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons programme, but Tehran insists it needs nuclear power solely for civilian purposes.
1 July 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/world/20120701/174346407.html
Editor’s Note:
The chance of any “October Surprise” centred on an attack on Iran grows dimmer by the day (conversely, such a Surprise focusing on domestic concerns becomes more probable). Now, with Russian and Chinese guarantees, the USA and Israel are left holding a bag fulla shit, and they look more ridiculous with each passing day. Interestingly enough, Wafflin’ Willy’s bellicosity is a sign that he’s desperate to fire up his base. Frankly, most Americans don’t give a hoot about the Iranian nuclear programme… it’ an Inside the Beltway concern. The danger’s past… once Lavrov appeared in public with Salehi, it put the kybosh on an attack.
There’s another reason why the Beltway Insiders hate the Pasdaran. In most militaries, the officers are from the bourgeois class, or, as college graduates, are imbued with its ethos. The Pasdaran’s officers, in the main, are men of the working class who came up from the bottom, and most of its senior ranks (both commissioned and non-commissioned cadre) are combat veterans of the Iran-Iraq War. That’s to say, they aren’t filled with the smirky godlessness or smarmy pseudo-religiosity of the West. I’ve met Pasdaran officers… they’re not ogres; they don’t have horns and hooves. They’re mostly men of modest background and means who haven’t forgotten where they came from; they fight for the people and their Faith, not for the profit of the One Percent. That’s the REAL reason why both the Interventionists and Neocons hate the Pasdaran and demonise them. Why, they refuse to kiss America’s naked bum at high noon in the public square… and that’s CRIMINAL!
Crack open a bottle… the bellicose yawping from Mittens and the GOP means that they’re weak… not that they’re strong. The ACA ruling put a torpedo in their guts (now isn’t the time to comment extensively on that… that’s fodder for a post of its own). The Republicans are beheaded chickens scampering aimlessly across the barnyard spraying all and sundry with their blood and gore.
That’s why there’s going to be no attack on Iran. Bet on it.
BMD
