Iranian Army Downplays Israeli Strike Threats

Iran

April 11th, 9:10am

London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat

Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran’s Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi underestimated Israel’s ability to pose a threat to Iran, in Tehran’s first response to warnings by the Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Hezri Halevi, to launch a “preemptive” attack on Iran “even without the help of the United States.” Fars news agency quoted Mousavi as saying that the Zionist entity was no match for Iran’s armed forces. The agency noted that the Iranian army commander’s statements came in response to recent threats by the Israeli Chief of Staff, in which he spoke about the ability of his forces to strike deep into Iranian territory, with the aim of paralyzing the Iranian nuclear program without the need for support from the United States. On Tuesday, Halevi said that the Israeli army would greatly enhance its capabilities for a “preemptive strike against Iran,” adding that such an attack will be “overwhelming” despite the geographical distance. The Israeli official’s threats came after US-Israeli air exercises in Nevada. But the Iranian army commander considered those statements as meant to boost the morale of the Israeli soldiers and fix the internal problems of the regime. “Anyone already familiar with the military capabilities of both sides knows well that the updated size and scale of the Zionist regime’s military would maximally correspond only to one of the plentiful operations that Iran’s Armed Forces undertook during the 1980-1988 Iraqi-imposed war on the Islamic Republic,” the chief commander of the Iranian Army stated. “The Zionist regime, which is sinking and the signs of its collapse are now becoming more evident than before, is too feeble to be viewed as a threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The actions of its leaders, which are far from rationality and prudence, will only accelerate the downfall of the regime,” he added.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4266296/iranian-army-downplays-israeli-strike-threats