Haaretz
Tevet 28, 5766
TEHRAN - Iran said on Saturday it
would launch medium-range missiles if attacked and accused Britain and the
United States of arming rebels in its south, as international pressure on
Tehran over its nuclear plans grew.
"If we come under a military
attack, we will respond with our very effective missile defense," Yahya
Rahim Safavi, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard, told state
television.
Western states suspect Iran of secretly aiming to build
a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear facilities are intended to
produce only electricity.
The United States and Israel have said
they would prefer to solve the stand-off through diplomacy but have not
ruled out a military strike.
Military experts reckon the
Revolutionary Guard's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of some 2,000 km
(1,200 miles), meaning Israel, U.S. bases in the Gulf and foreign troops
in Iraq lie within their range.
Safavi repeated Tehran's
allegations that Britain and the U.S. are arming rebels in the
southwestern province of Khuzestan, which has most of Iran's abundant oil
reserves.
"Occupying forces in Iraq, particularly those in the
south, provide Iranian agents with material for bombing," he said.
"British and U.S. intelligence services should avoid interfering in our
affairs."
Bombs ripped through a bank and government building in
Khuzestan on Tuesday, killing eight people.
A group fighting for
the independence of Iran's Arab minority claimed responsibility but the
claim could not be verified.
Defense analysts say Iranian ballistic
missiles owe much to North Korean and Russian know-how.
"Iran
produces its own ballistic missiles and does not draw on any foreign
assistance for technology," Safavi said.
The Revolutionary Guard is
a parallel military answerable directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei.