TEHRAN, 19 August 2004 — Iran will strike the Israeli reactor at Dimona if Israel attacks the Islamic republic’s own burgeoning nuclear facilities, a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying yesterday. “If Israel fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it should permanently forget about Dimona nuclear center, where it produces and keeps its nuclear weapons, and Israel would be responsible for the terrifying consequence of this move,” Gen. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr warned.
Iran’s controversial bid to generate nuclear power at its plant being built at Bushehr is seen by archenemies Israel and the United States as a cover for nuclear weapons development. The general’s comments, reported by the Iranian press, mark an escalation in an exchange of threats between Israel and Iran in recent weeks, leading to speculation that there may be a repeat of Israel’s strike against Iraqi nuclear facilities at Osirak in 1981.
Iran insists that its nuclear intentions are peaceful, while pointing at its enemy’s alleged nuclear arsenal, which Israel neither confirms nor denies possessing. Dimona, in the Negev desert, is allegedly where Israel produces weapons-grade plutonium for its estimated 200 nuclear warheads.
Revolutionary Guard chief Yadollah Javani on Sunday warned that “the entire Zionist territory including its nuclear establishments and atomic munitions are now within the range of Iran’s advanced missiles.”
The statement came a few days after the Islamic Republic conducted what it called a successful test of an upgraded version of its conventional medium-range Shahab-3 missile. The missile is considered the mainstay of Iran’s military technology and portrayed as purely defensive and dissuasive, but also specifically as a weapon against Israel.
The Revolutionary Guards, or Sepah-e Pasdaran, to whom the Shahab-3 has been entrusted, exist in parallel to the regular armed forces. The ideological spearhead of the regime, they are well equipped and have a navy and air force as well as ground troops.
Zolqadr, however, considered that “given the internal crises in the Zionist regime and its military, security and geographical vulnerability, Israel is not capable of attacking Iran and its threats are only propaganda.” The threats, said Gen. Zolqadr, are aimed at depriving Iran of its “indisputable right” to nuclear technology for peaceful ends.
Meanwhile, Iran’s conservative-dominated Parliament voted down a bid by its reformist predecessor to support women’s rights and enforce gender equality, press reports said yesterday. A bill passed earlier this year by the previous Parliament had already been sent back by the conservative watchdog body the Guardians Council, which vets all legislation, on the grounds that it was against Islamic law.
Conservatives won control of the assembly in controversial elections in February which saw many reformist candidates disqualified by the same Guardians Council, and took office in May. They have since reversed a number of measures taken by the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami, who still has another year in office.
Iranian Parliament is preparing designs for national Islamic costumes to combat the corrupting influence of Western fashion, a prominent MP said yesterday. “We have to design new trends within the framework of an Islamic dress code. Both men and women need a national costume,” Emad Afroogh, head of the parliamentary cultural commission, told student news agency ISNA.
