Iran to 'blow up heart of Israel' if attacked

[oberliner]

TEHRAN — Iran will "blow up the heart" of Israel if attacked by the Jewish state or the United States, an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on Friday as saying.

"Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our land, before the dust is settled, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel," state news agency IRNA quoted Khamenei's representative to the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, as saying.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would carry out severe reprisals if Israel or the United States attack the country.

The United States and its regional ally Israel have never ruled out a military option to stop Tehran's nuclear drive, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear weapons while Iran says it is solely for peaceful ends.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jFOdQQyAUog8ztYqzpMUvtc9X2mg

[henank]

1. Mistranslation claim

in 3...2...1

[Why Syzygy]

2. I hope it is a good translation.

The allies need to be warned in the strongest possible terms.
Recall, the UN never gave us permission to bomb Iraq. No reason they would go along with this option.

[shira]

6. ...from Juan Cole's disinformed comment

:eyes:

[henank]

3. Isn't it nice

how these nice civilized peace loving terrorists threaten only Israel with bombing, whether or not it is Israel who attacks them. Remember Saddam Hussein? Remember those scud missiles that hit Israel in Gulf War I? Israel never fired a shot at him. And now the Iranians are threatening the "heart of Israel", whether attacked by Israel or America.

But yes, I'm suuuure it's a mistranslation. Has to be. the Mad Mullahs™ would never threaten such a thing. Would they? :sarcasm:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

4. Hopefully this will make it less likely Israel will attack them.

When you have Israel and the US threatening first strikes on Iran, and Iran threatening reprisals if they do, to complain at Iran's remarks strikes me as hypocritical. There are plently of excellent reasons to lambast Iran, but "we will strike back if attacked" is not one of them.

[bemildred]

5. Well. I suppose that is the idea.

Like when Ehud Barak or Lieberman waves his dick around to show he is not afraid. But I don't think this sort of thing really makes war less likely. And I think that the Iranian dolts are playing to domestic audiences and trying to stoke up the fear level, just like their Israeli counterparts. It is easy to see that this is similar to "all options are on the table" and a response to the more or less continuous insinuations that they are going to get bombed, but I don't think it really is the best thing to do. It's like watching two baboons making threat displays, entertaining, but not enlightening, or likely to improve the chances of peace.

The Iranian regime really is a bunch of shitheads, but bombing the crap out of the Iranian people is a poor way to "save" them from the shitheads.

[varelse]

7. Mutually assured destruction?

:shrug:

Not a new strategy.