Head of Iranian Guard Says Destroying Israel an “Achievable Goal”
Tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East. Major General Hossein Salami of the Iranian elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that nation’s ability to destroy Israel is no longer a dream, but instead is now an “achievable goal.”
Speaking at a meeting in Tehran for commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Salami was quoted as saying, “We have managed to obtain the capacity to destroy the impostor Zionist regime. This sinister regime must be wiped off the map and this is no longer … a dream [but] it is an achievable goal.” He claimed Iran has been scheming for four decades to obtain the military might to destroy Israel. Now they are close to having the necessary military power to accomplish this goal. The meeting was being held by Iranian officials amid rising tensions between Iran, Israel and the United States.
Last April, President Trump officially designated the IRGC as a terrorist group stating, “This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.”
These comments from Salami come just days after Abbas Nilforoushan, the Deputy Commander of Operations of the IRGC, threatened that if Israel attacks Iran, it will have to “collect bits and pieces of Tel Aviv from the Mediterranean Sea.”
Nilforoushan warned Israel and her allies that conquering Iran would not be easy, “If the enemies could have started a war against Iran, they would have done it.” He added that geography plays to Iran’s favor, “We are not a small country that could be conquered in one step. If all the Western, Arab and Israeli coalitions’ forces enter our country, Iran’s geography will defeat them before they can do anything.”
He also described Iran’s “deep and long-range missile assault capabilities” and said they would be able to make them operational quickly if attacked.
Iran has been edgy ever since a drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry was attributed to the United States. Others claim this attack was instead backed by Houthi rebels from Yemen. Much of the increase in tension between Iran, Israel and the United States stems back to President Trump pulling the US out of the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also a major critic of the deal. In September, Netanyahu exposed the existence of a secret nuclear facility in Central Iran in which he said the regime had conducted experiments in the pursuit of nuclear weapons. He claimed that once Iran learned Israel found out about the facility, Iran destroyed it.
This is not the first time high-ranking Iranian officials have either threatened or called for the destruction of Israel. Indeed, it happens quite regularly. Iran sees Israel, with United States backing, as its major deterrent in the Middle East and has plotted to destroy them for decades. They have also not been pleased with Israel’s intervention in Syria, where thousands of Iranian-proxy Hezbollah fighters have backed Syrian President Bashar Assad since 2011. Israel sees the terrorist group Hezbollah as a direct threat to their existence. Armed with rockets and missiles, Hezbollah has an arsenal larger than those of many small nations.
This tension has created a precarious situation in the Middle East, with war looming at the moment of any misstep on either side.
Pray for the protection of Israel and her people. Pray for the United States to continue to stand by Israel. And pray for peace in the Middle East and for tensions in the region to deescalate.