Reuters – A missile fired from an Iranian warship during naval drill.
Iran has threatened to turn the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa “to dust” as it flexed its military muscle, parading its latest weapons of war to mark the anniversary of its 1980 invasion by Iraq on Wednesday.
Some of the weapons the Iranian military displayed during the parade, shown on state TV, are long-range missiles, tanks, and Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system, the Jerusalem Post reports.
In a direct reference to Iran’s arch-foe Israel, a banner on one of the military trucks read: “If the leaders of the Zionist regime make a mistake then the Islamic Republic will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust.”
Iran’s military chief of staff Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri used the occasion to denounce the $38 million, 10-year defence aid package recently granted by the United States to Israel, saying it makes Iran “more determined” to strengthen its military.
“The recent action by the criminal America to sign a deal and offer an aid package to the Zionist regime is a useless attempt to guarantee the flimsy security of this (Israel’s) regime,” Bagheri said, according to CBN News.
Iran does not recognise Israel’s right to exist, and supports anti-Israeli terrorist groups like Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Iran also showed the world its naval strength, putting on display about 500 warships, aside from submarines and helicopters, at the port of Bandar Abbas.
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned the U.S. to stay away from the Persian Gulf. “We tell the Americans that it’s better that the capital and wealth of the American people should not be wasted on their inappropriate and detrimental presence in the Persian Gulf,” he said.
Jafari warned that if the Americans try to “extend their reach” to Iran, they face the same fate that befell them during the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba when the U.S. failed in its attempt to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1961.
Iran also unveiled a new missile, known as Zolfaghar, the name of the sword used by Imam Ali, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed and his successor, according to Tasnim, Iran’s semi-official news agency.
Officials said Zolfaghar is a solid-fuel and long range ballistic missile with a cluster warhead and a range of 700 km.
Iran also displayed its Qadr H missile, which has a longer range of 2,000 km, according to state TV.
It also put on display its Russian-supplied missile defence system, which was deployed just last month to protect Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facility.
