Sunday, October 21, 2007

Cheney Warns Iran

Vice President Dick Cheney said today Iran is a growing obstacle to peace in the Middle East and the US will not allow it to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions,” Cheney said. “We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Chaeny’s harsh words came just a few days after President Bush warned of World War III if Iran goes nuclear.

IRGC Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, commander of IRGC missile force, had said a day earlier that Iran will fire 11,000 rockets into US military bases if attacked.

Iran analysts believe the US has given Iran a stern warning of an impending military attack if it did not halt its nuclear program. Russian President Vladimir Putin is thought to be the messenger, delivering the warning directly to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei during his last week’s visit to Tehran. Chaharbaghi’s warning was seen as a direct reply to the threat of a military attack.

The sacking of Ali Larijani as the country’s chief nuclear negotiator and replacing him by a hardliner bureaucrat with close ties to President Ahmadinejad was also seen as a clear sign of hardening of Iran’s position on the nuclear issue.

In related developments, Iran’s Tabnak news website reported today of a noticeable increase in the number of flights by US fighter planes and radar aircraft at Shalamcheh border area near Abadan.

The British Special Forces, SAS, were also reported to cross into Iran at Shalamcheh, engaging IRGC’s Quds Force in the area. The Sunday Times identified the location of SAS operations as Maysan and Basra border areas.

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