Well, here’s what the European diplomacy we asked for has purchased us in Iran:
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned that Iran might launch a preemptive strike against US forces in the region to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities.
“We will not sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will do to us. Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly,” Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera TV when asked if Iran would respond to an American attack on its nuclear facilities.
“America is not the only one present in the region. We are also present, from Khost to Kandahar in Afghanistan; we are present in the Gulf and we can be present in Iraq,” said Shamkhani, speaking in Farsi to the Arabic-language news channel through an interpreter.
Of course, we already know that Iran (or at least Iranian weapons) is already in Iraq, hand-in-hand with al Sadr.
And why would Iraq threaten a preemptive attack on American forces? Out if impotence:
“If Israel fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it should permanently forget about Dimona nuclear center, where it produces and keeps its nuclear weapons, and Israel would be responsible for the terrifying consequence of this move,” General Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr warned.
Iran would actually have a difficult, if not impossible, time trying to attack Dimona. Better to threaten the Americans, instead.
So they think, anyway.
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