Iranian missiles "ready to hit Tel Aviv"
Pastor Dale Morgan
Tuesday August 15, 10:11 PM Reuters*
Iranian missiles "ready to hit Tel Aviv"*
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hit Tel Aviv with its medium-range missiles
if attacked, said an influential senior cleric on Tuesday.
"If they (U.S. and Israel) militarily attack Iran ... They should be
afraid of the day when our missiles with 2,000 km range will hit Tel
Aviv," Ahmad Khatami told state television.
Khatami sits on the Assembly of Experts, the body of 86 clerics that
constitutionally supervises the country's most powerful man, Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Arms experts say Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a maximum range of around
2,000 km (1,240 miles), meaning they are capable of hitting Israel as
well as U.S. military bases in the Gulf.
U.S. officials accuse Iran of planning to equip its missiles with
nuclear warheads. Iran says it has no desire to have atomic weapons and
is only developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, such as
electricity generation.
Iranian military commanders have repeatedly warned they would not
hesitate to deploy the Shahab-3 missiles if Iran came under attack over
its disputed nuclear programme.
Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear dispute
with the West, but has not ruled out military options.
Tehran has vowed to expand its atomic fuel activities despite a U.N.
Security Council resolution demanding it halt nuclear work by August 31
or face the threat of sanctions.
Khatami praised Lebanon's Hizbollah for its resistance against Israel,
saying that U.S. President George W. Bush and Israel's Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert should have learnt lessons from the month-long war in Lebanon.
"I congratulate Hizbollah for its victory, which was the victory of
Islam. This was a disgraceful defeat for America and the Zionist regime
(Israel)," Khatami said.
Bush on Monday reiterated that Iran should stop supporting armed groups
in both Iraq and Lebanon.
Iran, which refuses to recognise Israel, says it only gives moral
support to anti-Israeli groups like Hamas and Hizbollah and denies
backing insurgents in neighbouring Iraq.