Iran vows to retaliate against US bases in Gulf if US attacks

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iran's top military commander said Saturday that his forces would retaliate against American military bases in the Persian Gulf if they are involved in any possible future attack on Iran. General Mohammad Ali Jaafari, commander of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards, told Al-Jazeera television that it is Iran's "natural right to respond" if attacked by land or air. But he assured Arab Gulf countries - some of whom are home to US military bases - that only American forces would come under counterattack. "We realize that there is worry among neighboring countries - Muslim countries whose lands host US military stations," Jaafari said. He spoke in Farsi, which the network dubbed over in Arabic. "However, if the US launches a war against us, and if it uses these stations to attack Iran with missiles, then through the strength and precision of our own missiles, we are capable of targeting only the US military forces who attack us," he told the station.