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." […]
