A senior Iranian official on Sunday said that at least 10,000 Israelis would be killed in the event of an Israeli military strike on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“If the Israelis attack, Iran’s deterrent power would deal a mortal blow to them and the Israeli death toll would not be less than 10,000. Therefore, they would be stopped soon,” Press TV quoted Mohsen Rezaei, former chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as saying.
“We don’t want war, but are fully prepared to defend our country against any strike. Of course the Zionists wouldn't dare invade Iran and only speak of war to win concessions from the next US president,” Rezaei told a group of Iranian students in London in a video conference program.
Rezaei added that Western efforts are attempting to "divert the Islamic Awakening" towards seeking a Western-style democracy by toppling the Syrian government.
“As far as the regional revolutions are concerned, one should not imagine that they are limited to regimes change in Libya and Egypt, because it is only the beginning,” Rezaei stated.
However, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the protests in Iran linked to the country's weakening currency are causing Israeli officials to reconsider the likelihood of a strike against Iranian nuclear targets in the coming months.
According to the Journal, the protests have raised hopes in Israel that international sanctions are working to undermine Tehran.
The Journal quoted an Israeli official as saying, "everything has changed" since the outbreak of the demonstrations on Wednesday. "You can't say now that the sanctions are having no impact at all. It is self-evident.''
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said that, although sanctions are taking their toll, they are not yet forcing Iran to abandon work that could soon lead to a nuclear warhead.
Yet Israeli officials appear increasingly ready to acknowledge the effect of recent American and European sanctions designed to restrict Iran's lifeline oil exports.