Iranian Web Site Urges Pre-Emptive Strike Against Israel
A provocative article has appeared on an Iranian website that seems intended to warn the US and Israel not to attack Iran. Shaul Bakhash reports that the article calls on the government to launch military strikes to destroy Israel. The site isn't a normal conduit for government messages, but the threat of a pre-emptive strike was reiterated by the deputy head of the armed forces.
A website linked to a prominent Iranian parliamentarian has posted an article that calls on the government to launch military strikes to destroy Israel and to annihilate its population.
The author, Alireza Forqani, says he is speaking for himself, not the government. However, the article, which first appeared Feb. 11, contains details on Iranian missile capabilities and Israeli targets, and aerial maps of Israel, that suggest the author has some access to official sources.
Iran, the article asserts, “could destroy Israel in less than nine minutes,” using its long-range Sejil, Ghadar, Ashoura and Shahab missiles.
Iran would first hit strategic targets in Israel, including its nuclear reactors, nuclear-weapons sites, missile launching pads, power plants, transportation and communication infrastructure, energy sources and similar facilities. In the second stage of the attack, Iran would target population centers “until the final annihilation of the Israeli people.”
