“We say to America that if it ignites the fire of war, it will doubtless engulf the White House more than it burns others.”

— The Iranian defense minister, Mustafa Najar, on Al-Jazeera TV, February 6

The head of the ground forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Nur Ali Shushkari, told Iranian government news agencies earlier this week that one of its commando units had engraved its emblem into the side panel of an American warship stationed in the Persian Gulf. The point of Mr. Shushkari’s bold statement was to make it clear that the Iranian military is watching every move made by American troops in the region.

Other leading Iranian military, political, and official news outlets have made similar statements. On November 27, the Mehr news agency quoted the navy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Admiral Sejjad Kouchaki, as saying, “We are fully monitoring the route taken by the American” warships in the Gulf, “and because American warships are heavy, they have no maneuverability and are easily sunk.”

During war games in mid-August, Admiral Kouchaki gave a press conference, covered by IRINN TV, during which he said Iranian submarines “can shadow the enemy’s vessels very closely” and at which he described Iran’s naval tactics vis-à-vis American forces.

Admiral Kouchaki said, “Our submarines can easily get near the enemy. Even our enemies know full well that one of our submarines passed under one of their [vessels] without their noticing. We came close to their anchored vessels, and we even filmed their anchor chain. We followed them through a periscope at a depth of 1 kilometer without their noticing. All these methods and tactics are nonclassical and nonconventional, constituting unbalanced warfare.”

At the same press conference, the head of the Iranian army’s joint staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, added, “Regarding what Admiral Kouchaki said … The same goes for unmanned planes. The same unmanned plane that flew over the warships in the Persian Gulf, taking pictures of them all, can do other things if equipped with a warhead. No matter how large they are, they have vulnerabilities.”

“Is War on the Way?” was the title of a January 22 editorial in the Iranian daily Kayhan, which noted: “The Americans must be warned … The American soldiers to the East and West of the Iranian” border “are in range of our fire. [When] the mighty missiles are launched from Iran, Israel will become a scorching hell for the Zionists, [in which they will burn] before reaching actual hell.”

Sobh-e Sadeq, who is the mouthpiece of the Revolutionary Guards, reported in a January 29 article that elements in the Revolutionary Guards threatened to abduct American soldiers around the world. “When the American security officers fall easily to the untrained and inexperienced Mahdi army forces … and when a ship belonging to the English forces disappears …” in the Persian Gulf “under unclear circumstances — all these can constitute a clear message.”

The article further stated, “All it would take is for [Iran] to open its wallet a little” to its supporters in various parts of the world, “and we will witness long lines of blond, blue-eyed officers who will become the prisoners of the fighting cocks who wait only for a signal — and a word to the wise is sufficient.”

In a February 10 television address on Iran Channel 1, the secretary of the Iranian Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, warned, “The entire world hates” America. “How will they dare show up here? Once they were beyond our firing range. Today, the Americans are within our firing range. They have placed us under siege. But, in a way, this is to our benefit because they are within our firing range now. In the West, in the East — they are within our firing range everywhere.”

The deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Zol-Qadr gave an interview on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting TV, during which he explained that by monitoring American forces, Iran had “a great opportunity … to get to know … American methods, strategies, doctrines, and tactics.”

He added: “We have been able to prepare for a confrontation with the American threat. Today, thank God, we can say the armed forces in our country are totally familiar with the American modus operandi. … We even know the American commanders’ state of mind. … This increases our maneuvering ability against the American threat.”

This interview occurred in February 2005. Clearly, the Iranian military has been in the planning stages for years for a possible confrontation against America.

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.