Will Iranian President Rouhani moderate Iran, or is he just for show? Illustrative. FEMA/Marty Bahamonde.
The same day that Iran publicized to the world the development of a new long-range missile that can carry multiple warheads, their supposedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani proclaimed that they would continue to “strengthen” those weapons. The Fars News Agency quoted him as claiming the missiles—the newest of which have a range of at least 1,800 km and are capable of reaching Israel—are for deterrence purposes. “We will strengthen our military and defense power as much as we assume as necessary for deterrence and we will strengthen not only our missiles but also our Ground Force, Air Force and Navy,” Fars quoted Rouhani as saying.
In a separate article, Fars reported that the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, not only was boasting about the new missile’s range, but also that it can carry multiple warheads so it can hit more than one target. He said that it would be put into operation soon.
The Iranian missile program has been repeatedly criticized by the United States, who see it as not only threatening Israel but their country as well. Missile technology is a key component of a nuclear weapons program so as to deliver the powerful bombs at farther distances.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters last week that Iran’s missile program violates a United Nations resolution, according to comments released by his office. He said Iran has “aggressively developed and tested ballistic missiles in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, thereby threatening the security of the United States and the stability of the region.”
Yet while Iran continues to pose a threat to Israel with missiles and more, the Iranian people don’t all feel the same way.
Israeli Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Ofir Gendelman tweeted that after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech to the U.N., “We got hundreds of positive feedbacks from Iranians to PM Netanyahu’s message that they are our friends and that we wish for them to be free.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, September 24, 2017)