Report: Iran Begins War Game with Warning to U.S. and Israel

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies; 08/07/2008 - Haaretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1000091.html

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have begun a military exercise with a warning that Israel and the U.S. naval force in the Persian Gulf would be prime targets if Iran is attacked, according to the ISNA news agency.

The report did not say when or where the exercise is taking place but adds that missile squads are involved.

The report quotes guard official Ali Shirazi as saying Tel Aviv and American warships in the Gulf would be among the first targets if Iran comes under attack.

"The first bullet fired by America at Iran will be followed by Iran burning down its vital interests around the globe," Ali Shirazi was quoted as saying in a speech to Revolutionary Guards.

"The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran's first targets and they will be burned," the quote continued.

Shirazi, a mid-level cleric, is Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the Revolutionary Guards.

"The Iranian nation will never accept bullying. The Iranian nation is a nation of believers which believes in jihad and martyrdom. No army in the world can confront it," he added.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, declined to comment on the threat to hit Tel Aviv, saying only: "Shirazi's words speak for themselves."

The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out the military option as part of international efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Leaders of the Group of Eight rich countries expressed serious concern on Tuesday at the proliferation risks posed by Iran's nuclear program.

In a statement issued after G8 leaders met in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on the second day of a three-day summit, the grouping urged Iran to suspend all enrichment-related activities.

"We also urge Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA," the G8 said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said major world powers had decided to send European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Iran for talks on an incentives package they offered last month to induce Tehran to change its nuclear policy.

Sarkozy did not say when Solana would travel to Tehran. Iran formally replied on Friday to the offer by the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.

France said Iran's response had ignored the world powers' demand for a suspension of uranium enrichment before talks on implementing the package - a condition rejected on Monday as "illegitimate" by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

U.S. analyst: Mullen made clear Israel has no 'green light' to attack Iran

A senior U.S. strategic analyst says the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, sent Israel an unequivocal message stating that Israel does not have a "green light" from the U.S. to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

Professor Anthony Cordesman of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies foreign policy think tank is considered a leading researcher in the area of U.S. national security. In the past he served in senior positions in the Defense Department, and was Senator John McCain's National Security Assistant.

Cordesman is visiting Israel this week, and gave a lecture Monday at Tel Aviv University and at Hebrew University on Sunday. He talked about Mullen's comments last week in Washington when the Admiral said such an Israeli attack would be dangerous and could destabilize the Middle East.

Mullen spoke after returning from a visit to Israel, during which he met with Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and other senior IDF officers.

Cordesman said Mullen came to Israel to deliver a message that Israel did not have a green light to attack Iran and that it would not receive U.S. support for such a move.

According to Cordesman, Mullen was expressing the official opinion of the U.S. administration, including that of President George W. Bush and the National Security Council.

Mullen said last week that the president, Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are choosing to work for now through diplomatic channels to put pressure on Iran: "The best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message, and that is that you will be isolated and you will have economic hardship if you continue trying to enrich," explained Mullen.

Cordesman explained that senior American officers do not make such public statements without permission from the White House.

In his Jerusalem lecture, Cordesman said the U.S. has a plan for a military attack on Iran, but is continuing with diplomatic efforts for now. He estimated that if a change were to be made in the U.S. position on an attack against Iran, it would only be made during the next administration.