Revolutionary Guards commander: Iran has encircled Israel from all sides

"If Israel makes a strategic mistake, it has to collect bits and pieces of Tel Aviv from the lower depths of the Mediterranean Sea," IRGC Deputy Commander for Operations Abbas Nilforoushan said.

By ROSSELLA TERCATIN
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2011. (photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2011.
(photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards top commander threatened Israel, warning against an Israeli attack on Iran, Radio Farda reported on Saturday.
 
"If Israel makes a strategic mistake, it has to collect bits and pieces of Tel Aviv from the lower depths of the Mediterranean Sea," IRGC Deputy Commander for Operations Abbas Nilforoushan said in an interview with the IRGC's Tasnim news agency, as reported by the US-funded Iranian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
 
Nilforoushan added that "Israel is not in a position to threaten Iran" and that "Iran has encircled Israel from all four sides."
 
"Nothing will be left of Israel" in case of a conflict between the two countries, he vowed.
 
The commander also commented on the confrontation between Israel and Iran forces or proxies in Lebanon and Syria.
 

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"We will perceive any mistake in the region as involvement in a war in the whole region. Any action to start a war in the region will flare up a fire that will burn those who have started the war," he said.
 
Earlier this year, Israel claimed responsibility for hundreds of strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.
 
Nilforoushan also stated that Hezbollah would "liberate northern Israel in case a war breaks out."
 
"This will certainly happen, as Hezbollah has a good capability to do it," he said.
 
According to Radio Farda, the general was born in 1966 in Isfahan and has also served as a "military adviser" in countries that are the members of the "Resistance Front," as Iran refers to the Syrian battlefields.
 
"Israel lacks strategic depth," Nilforoushan said, adding that because of it, "if only one missile hits the occupied lands, Israeli airports will be filled with people trying to run away from the country." This statement, as well as other claims by the Iranian general, seemed to be devoid of factual basis.
 
For instance, in the interview, he claimed that Israelis are "poor," when according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2018 the GDP per capita in Israel was over $41,000, while in Iran it was less than $6,000.
 
Nilforoushan also said Iran developed a "deep and long-range assault capability."
 
"We will not let the enemies to face us at our borders. We will quickly drag the war to the bases and interests of the enemies anywhere they may happen to be," he pledged.