Iran launched a three-day war games exercise on Monday as a senior official threatened that an Israeli attack would “hand us an excuse to wipe them off the face of the earth,” according to Iranian news reports.
The Iranian war games, during which missiles will be fired at targets modeled after foreign bases, are coming as a stiff European Union sanctions on Iranian oil took effect Sunday.
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said the war games will show “that the Islamic Republic of Iran is resolute in standing up to … bullying, and will respond to any possible evil decisively and strongly,” according to Reuters, which quoted the official from Iran’s IRNA News Agency.
Hajizadeh said of an Israel attack on Iran: “If they take any action, they will hand us an excuse to wipe them off the face of the earth,” according to Reuters.
Hajizadeh’s comments echo those of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who used a similar phrase in a 2005 speech.
Israel has weighed whether to attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities to stop its nuclear program, but President Obama has tried to dissuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from taking unilateral action.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
