The West view Iran's nuclear programme as a major security threat The chief of Iran’s elite Quds Force says he doesn’t fear US threats of assassination and is ready for “martyrdom”, warning Washington of serious consequences if it does not stop threatening the Islamic Republic. The comments by Quds Force commander Brig. Gen. Ghassem Soleimani were published in several Iranian newspapers Saturday.
The force is a unit within the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.
Tensions have increased in recent weeks between Iran and the U.S., with several American neoconservatives urging the Obama administration to use covert action against Iran and kill some of its top officials, including Soleimani.
Two men, including an alleged member of Iran’s Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.
Meanwhile, an Iranian general on Saturday threatened retaliation against Israel if any of its nuclear or security sites are attacked.
"If Israeli missiles hit one of our nuclear facilities or other vital centres, then they should know that any part of Israeli territory would be target of our missiles, including their nuclear sites," General Yadollah Javani of the Revolutionary Guards told ISNA news agency.
"They (Israel) know that we have the capability to do so."
Javani, the former head of the military's political department, was referring to mounting speculation that Israel would strike Iran's nuclear facilities after the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had tested designs used to make nuclear warheads.
Iranian political and military officials have warned Israel that it would face retaliation from Shahab-3 missiles that can reach any part of Israel.
Iranian volunteers affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards have held several gatherings in recent days and vowed a harsh reply to any military attacks on nuclear sites