Iran state TV airs simulated attack on Israel

JPost

Iranian state television on Friday aired a documentary which featured a computerized simulated attack on Israeli cities.

The clip, which was posted on YouTube, is a hypothetical scenario which envisions the Iranian response to an Israeli or American military offensive against Iran's nuclear installations.

The title of the film, "Nightmare of Vulture," features footage of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei speaking to cadets in 2011.

“Anybody who thinks of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran should be prepared to receive strong slaps and iron fists from the Armed Forces,” Khamenei is seen saying. “And America, its regional puppets and its guard dog – the Zionist regime – should know that the response of the Iranian nation to any kind of aggression, attacks or even threats will be a response that will make them collapse from within."

The documentary's computerized simulation shows how the Iranians envision an attack on Tel Aviv, Haifa, and the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The film is yet another propaganda salvo unleashed by the Iranian regime, which has escalated its rhetoric in the past few days.

On Friday, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted an Iranian naval commander as saying that warships were making their way across the Atlantic Ocean and toward the United States' maritime border.

"Iran’s military fleet is approaching the United States’ maritime borders, and this move has a message,” Adm. Afshin Rezayee Haddad of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet was quoted as saying.

On Saturday, Khamenei said on Saturday the United States would overthrow the Iranian government if it could, adding Washington had a “controlling and meddlesome” attitude towards the Islamic Republic, Iranian media reported.

In a speech to mark the 35th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran, added that officials seeking to revive the economy should not rely on an eventual lifting of sanctions but rather on homegrown innovation.

“American officials publicly say they do not seek regime change in Iran. That’s a lie. They wouldn’t hesitate a moment if they could do it,” he was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Khamenei made no mention of talks between Iran and world powers intended to settle a decade-old dispute about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

But he reiterated that in dealing with “enemies,” Iran should be prepared to change tactics but not compromise on its main principles.