Tehran steps into US-Israel Iran row
with threat of pre-emptive strike
DEBKAfile, Feb 21 2012
Deputy Chief of Iran’s Armed Forces Gen Mohammad Hejazi said on Feb. 21:
Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran’s national interests, we will act without waiting for their actions.
An Iranian preemptive attack on Israel has been in the air for some weeks. Gen Hejazi’s threat of a preemptive strike against Israel also serves the regime in its run-up to a general election on Mar 3. It aims to show the Iranian voter and Middle East public that Iran has successfully turned US and Israeli aggression against Iran against them and demonstrated they are no more than paper tigers incapable of carrying through on their rhetoric. The military initiative therefore stays in Iran’s hands. In Tehran, the standard Israeli cliché of “We don’t advise anyone to test our resolve” has worn thin. Gen Hejazi’s words were backed up by a four-day air defense exercise dubbed Sarallah (God’s Revenge) in the south of the country.
