Minister Stresses Iran's Ability To Wipe "Zionist Regime" Off Earth

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi downplayed Israel's threats against the Islamic Republic, and warned that Tehran is capable of wiping the regime off the earth.

Iran's defensive power against Tel Aviv's threats has become so developed that it would easily wipe off the Zionist regime from the face of the earth, Vahidi told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday. "Faced with various problems, the usurper regime of Israel makes such absurd threats to compensate for its internal crisis," the minister was quoted by the Islamic republic news agency as saying. 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. Speculation that Israel could bomb Iran mounted since a big Israeli air drill four years ago. In the first week of June, 2008, 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters reportedly took part in an exercise over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece, which was interpreted as a dress rehearsal for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear installations. Iran has, in return, warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by  Tel Aviv. The United States has also always stressed that military action is a main option for the White House to impede Iran's progress in the field of nuclear technology. In response, Iran has warned it could target 32 US military bases in the region and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if it became the target of a military attack over its nuclear program. Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, is a major oil shipping route. 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. Continued...