Following are excerpts from an interview with General Rahim Safavi,
former commander of the IRGC and senior military advisor to Iranian
leader Khamenei, which aired on Al-Alam TV on November 25, 2011:
General
Rahim Safavi: Starting a war in the region would create a great
economic and political crisis in the world. At any rate, the Islamic
Republic of Iran seeks security, peace, and stability in the region.
It will not start a war, but it will make whoever initiates a war regret
it. Iran is very serious about this and is completely prepared for this.
Interviewer: Among
the possible Iranian responses to any act of aggression, there is the
possibility of a response against the Israeli entity – raining upon
it various Iranian missiles – Shehab 3, Qader, and so on. To what
extent are these missiles capable of striking at the heart of the Israeli
entity – especially since some people doubt these missiles' capabilities
and accuracy?
Rahim Safavi:
Iran does not need to target the Zionist entity with ballistic missiles.
Our friends in Hizbullah, in Lebanon, are now capable of targeting,
with Katyusha rockets, all the settlements, which were constructed with
billions of dollars. They are all within the 25-30 kilometer range of
the Katyusha rockets. All these settlements and their Zionist inhabitants
are within range of the Katyusha rockets of our friends in Hizbullah,
Lebanon. Therefore, I believe that the Zionists know full well that
if they start a war, they will be targeted with full force from Southern
Lebanon, as well as by Hamas and by Iran. The number and range of the
Iranian missiles are unlimited.
The range of our missiles
covers the entire area of occupied Palestine. Not a single spot in Palestine
is safe from our missiles, and the number of our missiles is unlimited.
The missile shields deployed in the region to protect the Israeli entity
– in Turkey, occupied Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and
the UAE – are incapable of intercepting all our missiles. They may
manage to intercept some missiles, but we have so many that they will
not be able to intercept them all.
[…]
