Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, warned this weekend that any Western move to assist forces seeking the overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad would trigger a regional war that would engulf Israel. Iran had previously declared that Tehran would treat any attack on Syria as an attack on Iran, but Boroujerdi went further and emphasized that Israel would not survive the conflagration:
Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Saturday that despite the ongoing political and propaganda campaigns against Syria, the ground is not prepared for the US to attack the Arab country because any such war would spread to Israel. He said the Zionist regime’s repeated defeats at the hands of the anti-Israeli resistance front have already exposed its “fragile security” and Tel Aviv “cannot tolerate such a test again.” The Iranian lawmaker added that a large part of the campaign against Syria is psychological in nature as the enemies are trying to feed false information to countries that support militants in Syria and at the same time terrorize the Syrian people and officials.
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Mohammad Hossein Sepehr – declaring that Iran’s borders are now “the Mediterranean coasts” on account of its support for Near East proxies – made a similar threat in the context of moves against Hezbollah:
He warned Israel of the heavy costs of any possible aggression against Lebanon, and stated, “If a (similar) 33-day war (against Lebanon) happens again, Hezbollah and the resistance front will wipe off Israel.”… In his speech on Hezbollah’s Anniversary of Martyred Leaders in February, Nasrallah warned Tel Aviv that Lebanon would adopt a retaliation strategy if Israel staged another war against the country.
Boroujerdi and Sepehr’s annihilationist threats echo those issued last year by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi. Iranian media conveyed their comments below a headline titled “Top Commander Reiterates Iran’s Commitment to Full Annihilation of Israel”:
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi… reiterated the Iranian nation and Supreme Leader’s emphasis on the necessity of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and its causes, and noted, “The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel.” The top military official reminded that the Iranian Supreme Leader considers defending Palestine as a full religious duty and believes that any kind of governance and rule by anyone other than the Palestinians as an instance of usurpation.
Earlier this year, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed in explicit remarks…. “Wherever Iran interferes, it announces it in a very straightforward manner. For instance, we interfered in confrontations against Israel, which resulted in the (Lebanese) victory in the 33-day war and (Palestinians’ victory in) the 22-day (Gaza) war,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing millions of Friday Prayers worshippers on Tehran University Campus in February. “In future too, we will support and help everyone who opposes the Zionist regime,” the Leader underscored. “The Zionist regime is a real cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut, God Willing,” Ayatollah Khamenei underscored.
Iran’s stated willingness to go to war on behalf of its proxies – independent of the material support it provides to Hezbollah and Syria – has become a central source of analyst concern regarding Tehran’s behavior should it acquire nuclear weapons. Gulf nations have in particular raised concerns that Iran would gain immunity to press its regional territorial claims and provide a nuclear shield for its terrorist and rogue proxies.
[Photo: The Israel Project / Flickr]