Iran, which has denied clandestinely developing nuclear weapons technology, is now bragging its nuclear achievements have brought power and prestige to the Islamic world.
Tehran also says the third round of talks with the P5+1 world powers over its illicit nuclear program, to be held in Moscow this month, will be fruitless. The P5+1 comprises U.N. Security Council permanent members the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia, plus non-permanent member Germany.
The official website of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a bold and resolute move, has posted an infographic on the “Outcomes of Iran’s Resistance on Nuclear Issue.” It praised Khamenei’s guidance and Iran’s nuclear achievements despite worldwide condemnation.
The graphic, which has been translated into several languages, indicates Iran’s nuclear achievements have given the Islamic world:
- Belief in its abilities, pride and proof of the power of Islam.
- A sharing of nuclear energy with Islamic nations.
- Expansion of the values of the Islamic republic.
- Proof the West is incapable of stopping Iran’s nuclear program.
- And most importantly, “Preparing the ground for national and international power!”
Khamenei said Sunday the international community’s suspicion Iran was seeking nuclear weapons is based on a “lie,” Gulfnews.com reported. He insisted international sanctions against Iran were ineffective and only strengthened the nation’s resolve.
The supreme leader’s speech, broadcast on state television to mark the 1989 death of his predecessor and founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, contained no sign Iran was prepared to make any concessions on its disputed nuclear program.
Khamenei also warned any attack by Israel on Iran will blow back on the Jewish state “like thunder.”
Khamenei’s show of resistance has been supplemented by threats from his generals.
Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, Khamenei’s top military aide, said both Israel and America lack the ability to start a war because of their internal political and economic problems, according to the Fars News Agency, an outlet run by the Revolutionary Guard.
“The Zionists are living in such international condition that if they intend to launch an attack against Iran, 1 million Jews will flee Israel in the first one or two weeks,” Safavi said. “Jews are very vulnerable there. The Americans have over 20 bases and 100,000 troops in the region, all under threat by Iran.”
Another top adviser to the supreme leader on international matters, Ali Akbar Velayati, in an interview last week with reporters from Egypt regarding the possibility of an attack by Israel, stated, “The Zionist regime has neither the power nor the courage and venture to do so for it knows that if it embarks on doing such a thing, it won’t exist anymore.”
Velayati has an arrest warrant on him by courts in Argentina for his involvement in the Jewish community center bombing of 1994 that killed 84 and wounded hundreds.
As WND revealed in February, Alireza Forghani, the former governor of southern Iran’s Kish Province and an analyst and a strategy specialist in Khamenei’s camp, laid out the legal case for the annihilation of Israel and all Jewish people. The piece, published by the conservative publication Alef and run by all media of the regime, specifically stated a pre-emptive attack to annihilate the people of Israel is essential.
That article, which is in line with the recent statement by Gen. Safavi that “Jews are very vulnerable there,” indicated Israeli cities with the highest Jewish populations must be targeted by Iran’s Seji l and Shahb 3 ballistic missiles to achieve maximum casualties.
Forghani recently posted on his website that Islamic nations must arm themselves with nuclear bombs.
He quoted the Quran, An-Nisa 74: “Let those fight in the cause of Allah who sell the life of this world for the hereafter. To him who fighteth in the cause of Allah – whether he is slain or gets victory – soon shall we give him a reward of great value.”
In a recent speech, Khamenei said, “We’re still at hillside … when Iranian nation reaches the peak, all enmities, evils will end.”
He also said, “It is Islamic Iran that has triggered an earthquake that is shaking the pillars of the hegemonistic powers … Sanctions cannot prevent the Iranian nation from making progress.”
Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and author of the award-winning book, “A Time to Betray.” He is a senior fellow with EMPact America and teaches at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy. He also is a member of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security.