Iranian General: ‘Our Hands Are Always on the Trigger’

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles today during war games that officials said aimed to show the country can retaliate against any American and Israeli attack, state television reported.The air force commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, said the exercise would “demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language,” the TV report said.RELATED: Gates: Iran Missile Tests Prove Threat | Iranian Missile Tests Send Oil Prices Climbing.Today’s war games were being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40% of the world’s oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.The report showed footage of at least three missiles firing simultaneously, and said the barrage included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead.That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan, and Pakistan within striking distance.“Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch,” the official IRNA news agency quoted General Salami as saying today.The report comes less than a day after President Ahmadinejad dismissed fears that Israel and America could be preparing to attack his country, calling the possibility a “funny joke.”“I assure you that there won’t be any war in the future,” Mr. Ahmadinejad told a news conference yesterday during a visit to Malaysia for a summit of developing Muslim nations.But even as Mr. Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have dismissed the possibility of attack, Tehran has stepped up its warnings of retaliation if the Americans — or Israelis — do launch military action, including threats to hit Israel and American Gulf bases with missiles and stop oil traffic through the vital Gulf region.Secretary of State Rice called today’s tests “evidence that the missile threat is not an imaginary one.”“Those who say that there is no Iranian missile threat against which we should build a missile defense system perhaps ought to talk to the Iranians about their claims,” Ms. Rice said while traveling in Sofia, Bulgaria.A White House spokesman called the tests “completely inconsistent with Iran’s obligations to the world.”“The Iranian regime only furthers the isolation of the Iranian people from the international community when it engages in this sort of activity,” a spokesman for the National Security Council, Gordon Johndroe, said.“They should also refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world,” he added, speaking from Japan where President Bush is attending the Group of Eight summit.In late June, Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, who was then the commander of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, said any attempt by Iran to seal off the Strait of Hormuz would be viewed as an act of war. The American 5th Fleet is based at Bahrain, across the Gulf from Iran.Israel’s military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that American officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons.Iran says its nuclear program is geared only toward generating electricity, not weapons.The Israeli exercise was widely interpreted as a show of force as well as a practice on skills needed to execute a long-range strike mission.An Israeli Cabinet minister, Shaul Mofaz,set off an international uproar last month by saying in a published interview that Israel would have “no choice” but to attack Iran if it doesn’t halt its nuclear program. Mr. Mofaz is a former military chief and defense minister, and has been Israel’s representative in a strategic dialogue on Iran with American officials.Today, an Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev said Israel “does not desire hostility and conflict with Iran.”“But it is clear that the Iranian nuclear program and the Iranian ballistic missile program is a matter of grave concern,” Mr. Regev said.The Guards and Iran’s regular army routinely hold exercises two or three times a year.

Iranian General: ‘Our Hands Are Always on the Trigger’

Iranian General: ‘Our Hands Are Always on the Trigger’

More from the New York Sun

Trump Administration Pushes for Swift Implementation of New Mail Voting Restrictions After Initial Supreme Court Win

Trump, Scaling Back South Korea Drills, Threatens To Unravel ‘Kill Web’ Defending Pacific Allies From Communist China

Canada Retaliates Against Trump With Dollar-For-Dollar Tariffs on American Imports

CIA Director Makes Mysterious Trip to Moscow

A Comedian’s Weighty Legacy

Republican Attorneys General Probe ‘Big Four’ Accounting Firms’ Climate ‘Activism’

Hillary Clinton Declares ‘Founding Fathers Would Be Appalled’ by Trump, Lauds Democrats’ Socialist ‘Experiment’ as ‘Healthy’

Trump Suggests Renaming Lake Ontario Amid Escalating Trade War With Canada

More from the New York Sun

Trump Administration Pushes for Swift Implementation of New Mail Voting Restrictions After Initial Supreme Court Win

Trump, Scaling Back South Korea Drills, Threatens To Unravel ‘Kill Web’ Defending Pacific Allies From Communist China

Canada Retaliates Against Trump With Dollar-For-Dollar Tariffs on American Imports

CIA Director Makes Mysterious Trip to Moscow

A Comedian’s Weighty Legacy

Republican Attorneys General Probe ‘Big Four’ Accounting Firms’ Climate ‘Activism’

Hillary Clinton Declares ‘Founding Fathers Would Be Appalled’ by Trump, Lauds Democrats’ Socialist ‘Experiment’ as ‘Healthy’

Trump Suggests Renaming Lake Ontario Amid Escalating Trade War With Canada