Apr 22 2024 23 mins
Commander sees 'World War III'
“By NBC News Wire Services”
Updated at 4:46 a.m. ET (09/25/2012): Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel if it was sure the Jewish state were preparing to attack it, a senior commander of its elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, made the comments to Iran's state-run Arabic language Al-Alam television, according to a report on the network's website.
"Iran will not start any war but it could launch a pre-emptive attack if it was sure that the enemies are putting the final touches to attack it," Al-Alam said, paraphrasing the military commander.
Hajizadeh, who heads the Guard's aerospace division, said any attack on Iranian soil could trigger "World War III."
"We cannot imagine the Zionist regime starting a war without America's support. Therefore, in case of a war, we will get into a war with both of them and we will certainly get into a conflict with American bases," he said. "In that case, unpredictable and unmanageable things would happen and it could turn into a World War III."
'Bases are equal to U.S. soil' U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan would be targeted, he added.
"There will be no neutral country in the region," Hajizadeh was quoted as saying. "To us, these bases are equal to U.S. soil."
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The U.S. Fifth fleet is based in Bahrain and the U.S. has a heavy military presence in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials reportedly suspect Iran is behind a string of recent cyber-attacks that were aimed at major U.S. banks. Jim Finkle of Reuters has more on the story.
The Iranian warning appears to be an attempt to reinforce the potential wider consequences of an attack by Israel. The message is not only intended for Washington, but to its Gulf Arab allies that are fearful of a regional conflict that could disrupt oil shipment and cripple business hubs in places such as Dubai and Qatar's capital Doha.