July 5, 2012
The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force declared Wednesday that the IRGC has prepared comprehensive contingency plans to attack 35 American military bases in the region “within minutes” of an American military strike on his country.
"We have thought of measures to set up bases and deploy missiles to destroy all these bases in the early minutes after an attack," said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Hajizadeh said the 35 American bases were within range of Iran's ballistic missile arsenal, the most advanced of which can reportedly hit targets 1,300 miles away.
This figure is important because the United States and its allies maintain several operational military bases in the region, including the home of the Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, a site only about 120 miles from Iran's southern border.
Another base used by the United States is located at the United Arab Emirates' al-Dafra air base, located less than 200 miles from the southern coast of Iran.
In April, the al-Dafra base received a shipment of multiple American F-22 stealth fighters. At the time of the delivery a U.S. Air Force spokesman assured the press that the deployment of these jets should not be interpreted as a threat to Iran.
A report published by ABC News, however, casts doubt on that comment. In April 2011 an official at Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-22, told ABC News “that the planes — which have never been used in combat — could find a home in quick strike missions in countries like Iran or North Korea.”
In light of all this, Hajizadeh’s promise of swift retribution for an American attack is perhaps predictable. So are similar statements made by a member of the Iranian Parliament.
Mansour Haqiqatpour, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, echoed the military commander’s sentiments, saying, “The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and the Iranian Army’s missiles can target and destroy any threatening target in the region,” according to a statement published by the Iranian Fars News Service.
It’s not just American concerns that will come under Iranian missile fire should the United States attack, however. In his statement, General Hajizadeh said that “the occupied [Palestinian] lands [Israel] are good targets for us as well."
Meanwhile, Haqiqatpour also included Israel in the threat, informing the Fars News Service that Iran keeps close tabs on activity at American bases in the Middle East and that the “slightest mistake [on their part] will cause them and their regional allies regret.”
“They will definitely incur losses,” he warned.
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