TEHRAN, 16 August 2006 — A top Iranian religious leader warned yesterday that Tehran would retaliate with ballistic missile strikes against Tel Aviv if it comes under attack by the United States and Israel.
The threat came as the nation celebrated the “victory” of the Lebanese Hezbollah group in its deadly conflict with Israel.
“If they (the United States and Israel) want to carry out an aggression against Iran, they should be afraid of the day that our 2,000-km range missile will hit the heart of Tel Aviv,” said Ahmad Khatami.
He was referring to Iran’s Shahab-3 missile, which is modeled on the North Korean No-Dong and has a reported range of some 1,300 km, putting Israel and US military installations in the region within reach.
Iran is reported to be working on extending the missile’s range and an Iranian general said in January that the Shahab-3 was now capable of striking targets 2,000 km away.
“The 70-km (43-mile) range Hezbollah missiles turned Israeli cities into ghost cities,” said Khatami, a prayer leader and member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a body which supervises the work of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“(US President George W.) Bush and (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert should learn their lesson and understand that playing with Islam is like messing with the lion’s tail,” he said in an interview on state-run television.
Yesterday, Iranian youths on motorbikes waved the yellow flags of Hezbollah, and government bodies set up street stalls to hand out sweets in celebration.
Residents of Tehran and other cities also took to rooftops shouting “Allah-o-Akbar” in scenes reminiscent of the final days of shah’s regime before the 1979 revolution.
Tehran authorities made public transport free yesterday and buses drove through the capital’s streets with their headlights blazing and posters of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah plastered on the side.
Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in the municipality’s Hamshahri newspaper that Hezbollah’s victory could be attributed to the thoughts of Ayatollah Khomeini. Bush said Monday that the month-long Lebanon conflict had ended with Hezbollah’s defeat. He also took aim at Iran. “Responsibility for the suffering of the Lebanese people also lies with Hezbollah’s state sponsors, Iran and Syria. The regime in Iran provides Hezbollah with financial support, weapons and training,” he said.
European foreign policy chief Javier Solana said yesterday that Hezbollah must “choose between being a responsible force in Lebanese politics or a beachhead for Iran.”
Solana told Spain’s El Pais daily that he hoped the UN-mandated disarmament of Hezbollah’s militia in southern Lebanon would take place “in the most political manner possible” so that the group “becomes a political force in the life of a normalized Lebanon.” “But the relations between Hezbollah and Iran will make this process difficult,” said the European Union’s top diplomat.
On Monday, Nasrallah said the disarmament of his fighters could not be done “in haste... or by intimidation, pressure or provocation,” and that it could only occur “through dialogue between Lebanese.”
Solana also said that the seven-fold build up of the multinational UN Interim Force in Lebanon should start by the beginning of next week at the latest.
