Speaking to Cuban daily
Granma, the official organ of the central committee of
Cuba's communist party, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister
for American Affairs Behrouz Kamalvandi pointed to the
continued threats posed against Iran by the US and Israel,
and stated, "We know that if they had (US and Israel)
assumed us weak, they would have already attacked us."
"With the intelligence they have
about Iran and given their knowledge about us, they would,
no way, commit the mistake of attacking our country,"
Kamalvandi stressed.
"However" the Iranian official
said "we are preparing ourselves to show a proportionate
response if they make such a mistake".
The official also underscored that Iran
is working on plans to be prepared for such scenarios
under any conditions.
Israel and its close ally the United States
accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have
never presented any corroborative document to substantiate
their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess
advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear
warheads.
Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting
that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a
civilian path to provide power to the growing number of
Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually
run dry.
Iran has warned that it would target Israel
and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack
by the Tel Aviv.
A recent study by a fellow at Harvard's
Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Caitlin Talmadge,
warned that Iran could use mines as well as missiles to
block the strait, and that "it could take many weeks,
even months, to restore the full flow of commerce, and
more time still for the oil markets to be convinced that
stability had returned".
Meantime, a recent study by the Institute
for Science and International Security (ISIS), a prestigious
American think tank, has found that a military strike
on Iran's nuclear facilities "is unlikely" to
delay the country's program.
In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington
Institute for the Near East Policy also said that in the
two decades since the Iran-Iraq War, the Islamic Republic
has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage
unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.
According to the report, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps Navy (IRGCN) has been transformed into a highly
motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and
is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline,
the Strait of Hormuz.
The study says that if Washington takes
military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale
of Iran's response would likely be proportional to the
scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.
