Iran acknowledges troops in Syria, warns of retaliation if attacked: report

[Salaf_us_Saleh]

Members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are in Syria providing non-military assistance and Iran may get involved militarily if Syria comes under attack, Reuters cited the corps’ commander as saying on Sunday.

The statement is the first official acknowledgement from a senior military commander that Iran has a military presence on the ground in Syria where an uprising has left tens of thousands dead since it began 18 months ago.

Western countries and Syrian opposition groups have accused Iran of providing weapons and expertise to Syrian armed forces and have suspected an Iranian military presence inside the country. Iran has denied this.

According to AFP, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, speaking in a very rare news conference in Tehran, warned of retaliation against the Gulf’s strategic Strait of Hormuz, U.S. bases in the Middle East and Israel if his country was to be attacked.

General Jafar also said that he believed Iran would abandon the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty should it be targeted for military action.

However, according to websites in Persian, the general did not warn of confrontation.

The U.S.-based Radio Farda’s website, reported the general saying that there are Iranian troops in the Syria, but this doesn’t mean that the Islamic republic will “intervene” in confrontation with forces against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Meanwhile, Iranian warnings underlined the high tensions surrounding Iran and its disputed nuclear program, which Israel has threatened it could seek to disrupt with air strikes, with or without U.S. help.

AFP reported the general saying that the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel at the entrance of the Gulf through which a third of the world’s traded oil passes, would be a legitimate target for Iran should it be attacked.

“This is a declared policy by Iran that if war occurs in the region and the Islamic republic is involved, it is natural that the Strait of Hormuz as well as the energy (market) will face difficulties,” he said.

He suggested that U.S. military bases -- such as those in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- would also be fair game for retaliation by Iranian missiles or proxy forces.

“The U.S. has many vulnerabilities around Iran, and its bases are within the range of the Guards. missiles. We have other capabilities as well, particularly when it comes to the support of Muslims for the Islamic republic,> he said.

He added that Tehran believed Israel was unsuccessfully trying to push the United States to take part in military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I do not think the attack would be carried out without U.S. permission,” he said.

However if Israeli jets or missiles did strike Iran, “nothing of Israel will be left, considering its size,” he warned.

“I do not think any part of Israel will be untouched given our missile capabilities. Thus, our response (warning of annihilatory retaliation) is in itself a deterrent.”

Jafari said that his personal opinion was that, in case of attack, Iran would leave the NPT which is meant to prevent states developing nuclear weapons while permitting atomic energy generation.

“In case of an attack, Iran’s obligations will change. My assessment is that Iran may leave the NPT -- but it would not mean a dash towards a nuclear bomb because we have a religious edict from the supreme leader” against atomic weapons, he said.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/16/238355.html

 

[Hard Rock Moslem]

So Iran was lying all this while? Anyway, apparently their Guards was dispatached for consultancy not to join in combat. I think they are still lying.

 

[Hard Rock Moslem]

US, Libya differ on accounts of Benghazi attack

WASHINGTON: Top US and Libyan officials offered starkly different accounts Sunday about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that left the ambassador and three other Americans dead.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said it began with a spontaneous protest over the anti-Islamic video that had already set off similar protests in Egypt, leading to the storming of the US embassy there.

"People gathered outside the embassy (consulate) and then it grew very violent and those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons... and that then spun out of control," Rice told "Fox News Sunday."

"But we don't see at this point signs this was a coordinated plan, premeditated attack. Obviously, we will wait for the results of the (FBI) investigation and we don't want to jump to conclusions before then."

Announcing the arrest of 50 suspects, Libya's parliament chief, however, blamed the attack on a few foreign extremists who he said entered Libya from Mali and Algeria and pre-planned it with local "affiliates and sympathizers."

"The way these perpetrators acted, and moved... leaves us with no doubt that this was pre-planned, determined, predetermined," Mohammed al-Megaryef, president of the Libyan National Congress, told CBS News.

"It was planned, definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago. And they were planning this criminal act since their arrival."

Ambassador Chris Stevens is believed to have died from smoke inhalation after becoming trapped in the blazing diplomatic compound, which came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms for several hours.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said the attack was revenge for the killing of the terror network's deputy leader Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi in a drone strike in June, but there is no evidence to support the claim.

US officials initially leaned toward the premeditated, well-planned assault angle and pointed to the fact the attack came on the anniversary of 9/11.

Now they are more reticent, insisting journalists wait for the results of the FBI investigation before leaping to conclusions.

Rice's comments are the strongest indication yet that - even if the United States does believe the assault was the work of a small band of extremists - it has no evidence to suggest planning prior to the protests.

Leading Republican senator and top Obama administration critic John McCain said it was ridiculous to believe it was anything other than a planned assault by Islamic extremists.

"Most people don't bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons to a demonstration," McCain told CBS. "That was an act of terror. And for anyone to disagree with that fundamental fact I think is really ignoring the facts."

The reluctance of US officials to give details about the Libya probe betrays their determination to track down those who killed Stevens, the first American envoy killed in the line of duty since 1979.

US spies, Marines and drones are aiding the Libyan authorities in their effort, hampered by the chaotic blend of competing militia and tribal alliances in the wake of the revolution that ousted Moamer Kadhafi last year.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French TV that the American ambassador died under "absolutely atrocious conditions," suggesting new details could soon emerge.

Speaking to ABC, Rice denied the United States was powerless to stop the anger spreading through the Muslim world at symbols of US influence, such as diplomatic missions, businesses and fast food restaurants.

Countering accusations from opposition Republicans that weak US leadership was emboldening the extremists, Rice said President Barack Obama had been extremely effective in getting Muslim leaders to protect US facilities and condemn the violence.

"What we've seen is that the president has been incredibly calm, incredibly steady, and incredibly measured in his approach to this set of developments," Rice said.

"His interventions, his leadership, has ensured that in Egypt, in Yemen, in Tunisia, in Libya, and many other parts of the world, that leaders have come out and made very plain that there's no excuse for this violence."

The flare-up was not a sign of anti-US sentiment but triggered solely by a "reprehensible and disgusting" movie denigrating the Prophet Mohammed, Rice said, stressing: "We're not impotent, we're not even less popular." -AFP