A nuclear strike on any US target/forces would likely clear the tubes of a many multiple Trident II D-5s (thermonuclear ~ 375Kt to 450Kt). And thermonuclear warheads are REALLY BAD stuff.
Posted on 01/18/2005 7:14:27 AM PST by F14 Pilot
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has the military might to deter attacks against it, its defense minister said in remarks published Tuesday, one day after President Bush said he would not rule out military action against Iran.
Ali Shamkhani said the Islamic Republic, which has seen U.S. forces topple regimes in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq (news - web sites) in the last three years, did not fear attack.
"We are able to say that we have strength such that no country can attack us because they do not have precise information about our military capabilities due to our ability to implement flexible strategies," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Shamkhani as saying.
"We can claim that we have rapidly produced equipment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent," he said, without elaborating.
Iran last October announced successful trials of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile with a range of 1,250 miles, putting parts of Europe, as well as Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, within its reach.
Bush said Monday that Washington would not rule out military action against Iran, which he labeled in 2002 an "axis of evil" member alongside Iraq and North Korea, if it was not more forthcoming about its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Iranian officials said they were unconcerned about the threats of military action, which seemed to suggest Washington was eager to tackle Iran in Bush's second term.
"Iran has no fear of foreign enemies' threats...as they are very well aware that the Islamic Republic is not a place for adventurism," the ISNA student news agency quoted influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying.
Bush's comments followed an article in the New Yorker magazine Sunday which said U.S. commando units were conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to identify hidden nuclear and chemical sites for possible future strikes.
Iran denies its nuclear facilities are to be used to make nuclear weapons and Pentagon officials have said the New Yorker report was "riddled with errors."
IRAN UNCONCERNED
Ali Aghamohammadi, head of the Propaganda Office at Iran's Supreme National Security Council, dismissed the New Yorker report as "psychological warfare against Iran."
"The entry of American commandos (into Iran) is not that easy and believing this story would be naive," state radio quoted him as saying.
The European Union insisted Tuesday diplomacy was the right approach with Iran.
"We are working with our Iranian partners in good faith as I trust they are working with us in good faith. We will pursue that path as long as it's possible and fruitful to do so," said Commission external affairs spokeswoman Emma Udwin.
Britain, Germany and France have sought to persuade Tehran to give up technology that can be used to make nuclear warheads in return for incentives such as trade deals and help with a civilian nuclear program.
Mehr news agency, which analysts say has close ties to the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an editorial entitled "Futile espionage" ridiculed U.S. attempts to destabilize Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"The United States is well aware that Iran has strongly withstood U.S. pressure for over 25 years ... Today, the Islamic Republic has acquired massive military might, the dimensions of which still remain unknown, and is prepared to attack any intruder with a fearsome rain of fire and death," it said.
"The U.S. and Israel know that they can never militarily challenge Iran, since attacking the Islamic Republic would be biting off more than they could chew and would only choke them if they attempted it," it added.
similar:
"Iran not afraid of U.S. Threat" [Iran Hints at having Nukes]
Reuters News Agency ^ | 17 Jan 05 | Reuters
Posted on 01/18/2005 5:27:47 AM PST by Brit_Guy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1323045/posts
I figure if we are intelligent about this, we will support and lead the opposition and bomb few Islamic government headquarters in Tehran, Tabriz, Mashad, Isfahan, Shiraz, …and let Iranian people hang the remaining un fled mullahs for therapy. But however, as long as mullahs are ended, its good value for the money.
I pretty much agree. We may not even have to bomb anything. Just spread a few million here and a few million there. That's the least we can do for Carter screwing up a perfectly normal country.
I agree. Also to include other guilty parties, the Iranians themselves were only board when they took to the streets 25 years ago. Shah’s regime was not broken so the lesson of “be careful what you wish for” rings true more than ever.
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