‘Hellish Ruin’: NY Will Get Nuked if Israel Attacks, Claims Iran

A brief video said Tehran could quickly develop nuclear weapons “if the US or the Zionist regime make any stupid mistakes.”

By Pesach Benson, United with Israel

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps vowed to develop nuclear weapons and turn New York into a “hellish ruin” if it is attacked by Israel or the U.S., reported Iran International, a London-based opposition web site.

The threat was issued in a video posted on two Telegram channels operated by the IRGC on Saturday.

The video was titled “When Will Iran’s Sleeping Nuclear Warheads Awaken” on the Bisimchi Media (Radioman Media) Telegram channel. On the Sepah-e Qods Telegram channel, the video was posted with the caption “Iran Prepared To Carry Out Top Secret EMAD Project: Building First Nuclear Warhead If Natanz Comes Under Attack.”

The Emad referred to by the IRGC is a ballistic missile said to have a range of 1,700 km (1,000 miles).

“Iran can immediately return to Emad project and build an atomic bomb if Natanz facilities are attacked,” the IRGC wrote.

A brief video said Tehran could quickly develop nuclear weapons “if the US or the Zionist regime make any stupid mistakes.” The video added that Iran’s ballistic missiles give the Islamic Republic the capability of “turning New York into hellish ruins,” insisting that the Fordow nuclear facility would survive any attack.

Tehran can rapidly move its “peaceful nuclear program to a nuclear weapons program,” the video declared.

Fordow is a uranium enrichment facility built underneath a mountain in northern Iran.

The Telegram post marks the second time in July that Iranian officials confirmed the existence of a nuclear weapons program. A top advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameinei recently claimed that Tehran is now capable of manufacturing a nuclear weapon.

Kamal Kharazi told Al Jazeera, “It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so.”

Karazi, who heads Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, added, “In a few days, we were able to enrich uranium up to 60 percent, and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium.”

Iran’s uranium stocks are at 60% purity — far higher than the 3.67% necessary for a civilian nuclear program. A nuclear weapon requires uranium enriched to 90% purity. It’s widely believed that Iran could finish enriching enough uranium to produce an atomic bomb in about four weeks.

No country maintaining a purely civilian nuclear program has ever enriched uranium to the degree that Iran has. Until July, Tehran insisted its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes.