Will France be in range of Iran’s missles? Eiffel Tower in Paris. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
A leader in Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (IRGC) warned on Saturday that if the Europeans push to limit the Iranian missile program, the Islamic Republic might expand their missile range to reach Europe. Lieutenant Commander of the IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Salami, in comments to state TV and republished by the Fars News Agency, claimed that they have limited the range of their missiles intentionally to 2,000 kilometers (roughly 1,200 miles).
He said this is short of reaching Europe, but he warned that could change if the Europeans insist on negotiating the limits of Iran’s missile program, as some have wanted.
“If the Europeans want to enter the sanctum of our missiles, we may drop this limitation to the range (of our missiles),” Fars quoted Salami as saying. He claimed that their missiles are limited in range to the nations that threaten them, and that “if Europe wants to turn into a threat, the range of our missiles will increase. We respect them. They should respect us too.”
United Nations resolutions place some restrictions on the Iranian missile program, although the Iranian nuclear deal only addresses restrictions on missiles indirectly. Israel and the United States under President Donald Trump have been among the most vocal voices calling for expanded limitations on Iran’s missiles—which can hit Israel and are believed to be part of an intercontinental research program that could eventually hit Europe and the US.
French President Emmanuel Macron has recently mentioned discussions on Iran’s missile program, a concept that Fars noted was rejected by Iran.
Israel has long been warning that Iran threatened more than just the Middle East. Last July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said while in France that militant Islamists led by Iran and ISIS “seek to destroy Europe.”
“It may not be obvious today, but it is completely obvious for anyone who listens to what they say, what they preach, what they teach their disciples, what they teach their children,” said Netanyahu in comments published by his office. “They must vanquish, overcome, subdue, and ultimately eliminate European civilization.”
If that wasn’t clear before, it’s becoming clear now. The Institute for National Security Studies in Israel published a report in 2014 saying Iranian missiles could reach Europe then. Iran is just making those threats more obvious today.
Following the latest report on Iran’s threats, IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus posted to Twitter that “at least we cannot say Iran is unclear about its intentions: Europe and N Africa in range of 2000km missiles. IDF will defend Israel. Who will defend Europe against Iranian aggression?”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 26, 2017)