Iran threatens reprisals 30, January 2008
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Iran.Tags: America, american bases, France, french base, international relations, Iran, politics, retaliation, Revolutionary Guard
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The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jaafari, has told Al Jazeera that Iran will retaliate against American bases in the region if they are used in an attack against Iran. This, obviously, does not even need to be stated – of course Iran would attack these bases. Thus perhaps the reason that this statement has come out now is in light of the recent French acquisition of a military base in the UAE, less than 250km from the Iranian mainland. Then again, this could simply be the Iranians gently rattling their sabre as they are wont to do.
Interestingly, in this statement the General said that Iran would specifically try to only attack the American bases and not retaliate against the Arab hosts. This is a change in policy. Previously, Iran made bellicose remarks about how states that hosted US troops – Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar – could be attacked as part of Iranian reprisals, were they themselves to be attacked. This, if indeed it is a firm shift in policy, would be a welcome relief for the countries in the region and could signal Tehran’s desire to defuse regional tension.
The Gulf blog 