Revolutionary Guard threatens to extend Iran’s missile range to cover all of Europe if the continent persists with its demand to negotiate Iran’s missile program.
General Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), issued a warning to Europe, stating that Iran would increase the range of its missiles to cover the Continent if threatened.
Speaking during a live TV program Saturday night, Salami said that the range of Iranian missiles depends on the scale of threats.
The Islamic Republic, he said, will never negotiate over its missile capability, which is an integral part of its power, Iran’s Press TV reported.
France has called for an “uncompromising” dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world countries.
“If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers and haven’t increased it yet, it’s not due to lack of technology,” Salami stated.
“So far we have felt that Europe is not a threat; therefore, we did not increase the range of our missiles,” he said, adding that if Europe turns into a threat, Iran will not hesitate to do so.
Speaking in November, Iranian General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that while Iran’s missiles are currently sufficient for its needs to threaten the Middle East, it can extend their range if it wants.
Iran’s current missiles have a range of 2,000 kilometers, are capable of striking at the entire Middle East and are therefore sufficient to fulfill the country’s purposes, but Iran has the capability to extend the range of its long-range missiles, Jafari said.
Jafari said the 2,000-km range for Iran’s missiles is deemed to be sufficient because “most American interests and forces” in the Middle East lie within this range.
The US has several large bases in Arab countries in the region, including the forward headquarters of the US military’s Central Command in Qatar, American bases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
The IRGC is entrusted with Iran’s missile program.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Salami touched on Saudi Arabia’s’ supposed “call for help” from Israel to “undermine Lebanon’s Hezbollah.”
“Saudi rulers view their survival in relying on the US power and secret contacts with Israel,” Salami said.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah claimed earlier this month that Saudi Arabia had appealed to Israel to launch a military onslaught against Lebanon and that Riyadh was ready to cover the costs.
“Saudi Arabia wants to destroy Lebanon under the pretext of combating Hezbollah. It was the main architect of Israel’s war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006,” Nasrallah alleged.
Iran claims its military development is for defense purposes only. However, many of these weapons were given to the Hezbollah terror organization and used against Israel’s civilian population during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to use its missiles against Israel.
By: United with Israel Staff