DM Raps Bolton's Baseless Remarks on Iran
News number: 8906100353 14:31 | 2010-09-01
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8906100353

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi
dismissed the recent allegations made by Washington's former envoy to the UN
John Bolton about the United States' military supremacy over Iran, and said
the comments lack political or military basis.

"John Bolton's remarks lack any true political or military basis and lack
the perception of a politician," Vahidi told FNA on Tuesday.

According to Vahidi, the remarks lack a "proper insight" because a nuclear
power plant has nothing to do with atomic issues, as the United States
claims.

"Our capabilities are not dependent on these issues. Thus, the US is unable
to destroy our capabilities," he noted.

Vahidi's remarks came after Bolton, in an interview with "Russia Today's"
Arabic service on August 17, said in the situation of a US military attack,
Iran would be able to hold on to the Strait of Hormuz for two or three days
"at the most" before the US forces crushed the Iranian Army, Navy and Air
Force.

As a staunch supporter of Israel and a vocal opponent of Iran's nuclear
program, Bolton has long been urging Washington to stop Tehran at any price.

Meantime, Vahidi stressed preparedness of the country's Armed Forces to
repel possible military attacks on Iran, saying that Tehran has already
defined the necessary strategies and drawn defensive plans to confront enemy
invasion.

"Of course, the Islamic Republic Armed Forces are always ready and have
already readied crushing, defensive plans to defend the great nation (of
Iran) and their dear homeland, which will make enemies regret (their
attack)," Vahidi said.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear
weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to
substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess
advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is
for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always
pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian
population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Speculation that Israel could bomb Iran mounted since a big Israeli air
drill last year. In the first week of June, 2008, 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15
fighters reportedly took part in an exercise over the eastern Mediterranean
and Greece, which was interpreted as a dress rehearsal for a possible attack
on Iran's nuclear installations.

Iran has, in return, warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide
interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.

The United States has also always stressed that military action is a main
option for the White House to deter Iran's progress in the field of nuclear
technology.

Iran has warned it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if it became
the target of a military attack over its nuclear program.

Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, is a
major oil shipping route.

Meantime, a recent study by the Institute for Science and International
Security (ISIS), a prestigious American think tank, has found that a
military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities "is unlikely" to delay the
country's program.

The ISIS study also cautioned that an attack against Iran would backfire by
compelling the country to acquire nuclear weaponry.

A recent study by a fellow at Harvard's Olin Institute for Strategic
Studies, Caitlin Talmadge, warned that Iran could use mines as well as
missiles to block the strait, and that "it could take many weeks, even
months, to restore the full flow of commerce, and more time still for the
oil markets to be convinced that stability had returned."

In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy
also said that in the two decades since the Iran-Iraq War, the Islamic
Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique
asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.
According to the report, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN)
has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and
well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil
lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic
Republic, the scale of Iran's response would likely be proportional to the
scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen has also
recently warned in Tel Aviv of the unexpected consequences of an Israeli
attack on Iran, just as he did during the days of the (George W) Bush
administration.