Iran can make 'nowhere safe' for US

TEHRAN- AFP - Iran has the capacity to fire tens of thousands of missiles at American targets and make "nowhere safe" for the United States, a top security official said on Wednesday.

"Iran has long-range missiles that can make nowhere safe for America," said Mohammad Baqer Zolqader, deputy interior minister for security affairs and former deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"Iran is able to fire tens of thousands of missiles per day at American targets on a daily basis and, with its long-range missiles, can threaten Israel which is acting as America's logistician," he added.

The United States has never ruled out the option of military action to secure Iranian compliance with UN Security Council resolutions on its nuclear programme.

Iran has repeatedly said it would strike back hard if it ever came under attack.

Zolqader said that America currently "is unashamedly confronting Iran and wants to take military action but due to the technical and strategic reasons cannot realise its bad intentions".

He said that the United States was now looking instead to "create instability and crisis inside the country and also stir up ethnic and religious differences".

Iran's missile arsenal includes its longer-range Shahab-3 missile, which has a range of up to 2,000 kilometres -- sufficient to threaten US bases in the Gulf as well as Israel.

It also has several types of shorter-range weaponry, including the Zelzal-2 (Quake) missiles which are said to have a range of 100 to 400 kilometres.