Head of Iranian military: If Israel or US make 'slightest error,' Iran will attack
by Zachary Halaschak
Washington Examiner
February 13, 2020
Iran’s military leader said his country is prepared to attack both the United States and Israel if either makes the “slightest error.”
Head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami made the remarks Thursday at a ceremony marking the 40th day since the U.S. drone strike that killed former Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
“If you make the slightest error, we will hit both of you,” Salami said, according to Reuters.
Soleimani, 62, was killed along with Iranian-backed Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al Muhandis in early January, sparking a tense escalation between the two countries that culminated in Iran firing ballistic missiles at Iraqi military bases housing U.S. forces. Soleimani was known for coordinating with terrorist and militia groups across the Middle East and was responsible for the deaths of more than 600 American troops during the Iraq War.
“The cowardly and craven assassination of commander Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al Muhandis by the Americans will lead to the liberation of Jerusalem by the grace of God,” Iranian military spokesman Ramezan Sharif said.
The remarks come the same week that Mohsen Rezaee, a leading Iranian politician and adviser to leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that Iran was looking for an excuse to attack Israel.
“We would raze Tel Aviv to the ground for sure. We have been looking for such a pretext,” Rezaee said. “If they do something, we can use it as a pretext to attack Israel.”
Despite the fiery rhetoric, former Gen. David Petraeus said last month that Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah are unlikely to risk sparking a war with Israel because of the excessive force that Iran would encounter.
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