Recent comments by the commander of Iran’s ground forces, Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Reza
Pourdastan, who said Tuesday that any military action against his country would
result in “suicide” for the attacker, were part of a long-standing pattern of
threats made by Iranian officials, an Israeli defense expert said
Wednesday.
According to Iran’s Fars Ne w s Agency , Pourdastan
said, “Today no enemy has the requirements and the desire to carry out
a military attack against the powerful Iran,” adding,
“military aggression against Iran is highly unlikely and even impossible and is
synonymous with the suicide of the aggressor.”
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remarks during a conference of foreign military attaches in
Tehran.
“There have been dozens of similar threatening statements issued
by various Iranian military and political personnel over the past years, with
regard to the option of the US or Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear
facilities.
They threaten ‘crushing’ responses, have referred to the many
thousands of missiles they can and will fire, and that they will [set] ‘alight’
US forces and Israel,” said Emily Landau, a senior research fellow at Tel Aviv
University’s Institute for National Security Studies , where she directs
the Arms Control and Regional Security Program.
“They regularly make
reference to the vast and overwhelming strength of their military forces – this
boasting is s o m e - times with reference to what they will do in case of
attack, and sometimes just routine.
“Often the deterrent statements have
come after something, either a statement or event, that raises their fears of
possible attack, and the context is deterrence of both the US and Israel,”
Landau added.
Due to the high frequency of such remarks, Landau said,
“it’s difficult to know exactly what, if anything, they are responding to in
this case.”
Tehran may have concluded that the chances of an attack on
its nuclear program have risen due to the lack of any movement in international
efforts to confront the nuclear issue, and after the two failed rounds of
negotiations in December and January, Landau said.
Iran may fear that
“something is being secretly planned. Maybe they are responding to a
possible Israeli sense of lowered vulnerability to Iranian retaliation due to
the success of Iron Dome. But this is highly speculative, and hard to know at
this point,” Landau added.
During his statement on Tuesday, the Iranian
commander claimed that Iran’s current military power was superior to any other
time period in the country’s history.
He emphasized the “defensive
nature” of his country’s armed forces and weapon programs, saying that they
serve the stability and security of the region and Iran’s national
interests.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.