Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Telegraph - UK / Daily Mail - UK
Iran will bomb Turkey if the U.S. or Israel tries to destroy its nuclear installations, a senior military commander warned today.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of the powerful Revolutionary Guard, threatened to target Nato's missile defence shield in the neighbouring country.
The system which Turkey only agreed to install in September, is designed to prevent Iranian missile attacks on Israel.
Warning: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seen meeting veterans in Tehran today, said plans to attack Turkey was part of Iran's strategy of respinding ¿to threats with threats¿
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Preparing: Khamenei, flanked by military and Revolutionary Guards commanders, reviews female members of the Basij militia in Tehran today
Provoking: Masked members of Iran's paramilitary Basij militia parade in front the former U.S embassy
The warning is part of is part of a new strategy devised by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that consists of responding ‘to threats with threats’.
General Hajizadeh said: ‘Should we be threatened, we will target NATO's missile defense shield in Turkey and then hit the next targets.’
Tensions have been rising between Iran and the West since the release of a report earlier this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
VOTE TO EXPEL UK AMBASSADOR
Iranian lawmakers today voted to expel Britain's ambassador to Tehran in a new outbreak of hostility towards its old imperial foe.
To a chorus of ‘death to England’ shouts, parliamentarians approved a bill requiring reduced diplomatic relations due to London’s support of upgraded U.S. sanctions.
During an open session broadcast live by state radio, 171 out of 196 MPs present voted for in favour of the measure.
Unlike the U.S., which has had no ambassador in Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis, Britain has maintained full diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.
However, Iranians have long been suspicious of the UK in large part due to Britain’s long-held influence on its rulers and economy prior to the Islamic revolution.
Britain's Foreign Office today said the decision to order the country's ambassador, Dominick John Chilcott, to leave Tehran was regrettable.
‘This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation, or international concerns about their nuclear program and human rights record,’a spokesman said.
‘If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners.’
It said for the first time that Tehran was suspected of conducting secretexperiments whose sole purpose was the development of nuclear arms.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of trying to produce atomic weapons, and Israel, which views Tehran as an existential threat, has warned of a possible strike on Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes.
A military installation in the Turkish town of Kurecik, some 435 miles west of the Iranian border, has been designated as the radar site, according to Turkish government officials.
General Hajizadeh said the United States also plans to install similar stations in Arab states, which has spurred Iran to alter its military defence strategy.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all statematters, is also commander in chief of Iran's armed forces.
Another senior Guard commander, Yadollah Javani, threatened that Tehran will target Israel's nuclear facilities should the Jewish state attack Iran.
‘If Israel fires a missile at our nuclear facilities or vital installations, it should know that Israel's nuclear centres will be the target of our missiles,’ the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Also Saturday, the chief of Iran's elite Quds Force said he doesn't fear assassination and is ready for ‘martyrdom.’
The comments by Quds Force commander Brigadeer General Ghassem Soleimani were published in several Iranian newspapers.
The Quds Force is the special foreign operations unit of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard, and Soleimani is a key figure in Iran's military establishment but rarely speaks in public.
Fervour: Young militia members flash victory signs in front of an anti-U.S. mural painted on a wall in Tehran
Ready for war: Soldiers on Tehran's streets has become an increasingly common sight in recent weeks
Menacing: Balaclava-wearing members of the Basij militia were out in force during an anti-U.S. protest on Friday
Debate: Iran's parliament today as it approved a bill to reduce Tehran's diplomatic relations with London and withdraw the country's ambassador to Britain
Tensions have increased in recent weeks between Iran and the U.S., with several American neoconservatives urging the Obama administration to use covert action against Iran and kill some of its top officials, including Soleimani.
The force has been accused by the Americans of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Two men, including an alleged member of Iran's Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court in the case.
Iran has dismissed the American claims as a ‘foolish plot’, saying U.S. officials have offered no proof.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066959/Iran-threatens-bomb-Turkey-U-S-Israel-attack-nuclear-installations.html#ixzz1ezOmU7pO
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