Iran vows 'decisive' relatiation

[Markass]

Iran vows 'decisive' retaliation - Focus on Iran - MSNBC.com

TEHRAN, Iran - The head of Iranâ??s elite Revolutionary Guards dismissed the possibility of U.S. military action against Iran and warned that his forces would respond with an â??even more decisiveâ?� strike if attacked, an Iranian news agency reported Friday.

The comments by Gen. Mohammad Ali Jaafari came after the United States announced sweeping new sanctions against Iran, focusing on the Revolutionary Guards, a force that is tasked with protecting Iranâ??s Islamic government and reports to the countryâ??s supreme leader.

Asked about the possibility of an American strike on Iran, Jaafari told reporters late Thursday that, â??These words are just exaggerations, and I donâ??t consider them a threat,â?� the news agency ISNA reported.

â??The Islamic Republic has the strength and power of its peopleâ??s faith. This power is joined with experience, knowledge and technology in the realms of defense. The enemy knows it cannot make any mistake, so these words are just exaggeration,â?� he said. â??We will reply to any strike with an even more decisive strike.â?�

The sanctions ban U.S. dealings with the extensive network of businesses believed linked to the Guards â?? and put stepped-up pressure on international banks to cut any ties with those firms.

So far, the official Iranian response has been defiant.

On Thursday, Iranâ??s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, called the new U.S. measures â??worthless and ineffectiveâ?� and said they were â??doomed to fail as before.â?�

Jaafari, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, said the sanctions tried to undermine the corps but â??now as always, the corps is ready to defend the ideals of the revolution more than ever before.â?�

Iranâ??s economy is struggling, with dramatic price rises this year. The cost of housing and basic foodstuffs like vegetables have doubled or even quadrupled. The government also has imposed unpopular fuel rationing in an attempt to reduce expensive subsidies for imported gasoline.

China, a key ally of Iran, warned Friday that the sanctions could increase tensions over Iranâ??s nuclear program.

â??Dialogue and negotiations are the best approach to resolving the Iranian nuclear issue,â?� the ministry said in a brief statement in response to a question from The Associated Press. â??To impose new sanctions on Iran at a time when international society and the Iranian authorities are working hard to find a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue can only complicate the issue.â?�

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was due to visit China over the weekend to lobby for intensified U.N. sanctions against Iran, the Israeli Embassy said Friday.

Washington has already won two U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions, Chinese officials say China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the council, would not support further sanctions from the body.

â??Looking forward for the sanctionsâ??
Despite the governmentâ??s insistence that U.S. and U.N. sanctions arenâ??t causing any pain, some leading Iranians have begun to say publicly that the pressure does hurt. And on Tehranâ??s streets, people are increasingly worried over the economic pinch.

The sanctions have heightened resentment of the United States among some in the public. But they are also fueling criticism among Iranian politicians that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is mismanaging the crisis with hard-line stances that worsen the standoff with the West.

Ahmadinejad and his allies are likely counting on sanctions to rally Iranians against the United States.

â??Hard-liners in Tehran were looking forward for the sanctions. It helps them hide their incompetence behind the embargo,â?� said political commentator Saeed Laylaz.

But many conservatives who once backed Ahmadinejad have joined his critics. They point to his failure to fulfill promises to repair the economyâ??despite increased oil revenuesâ??and say his fiery rhetoric goads the West into punishing Iran.

Ahmadinejadâ??s sudden replacement of Iranâ??s top nuclear negotiator with a close loyalist over the weekend also angered many conservatives in parliament.

The Bush administration hopes its new sanctions will push companies around the world to cut their business ties with Iran. â??It is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran you are doing business with the IRGC,â?� Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said, referring to the Guards.

Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called earlier U.N. sanctions, which punish a list of Iranian companies believed linked to the nuclear program, â??a pile of papers that have no value.â?�

Most notably, the new sanctions ban dealings with two major Iranian banks, Bank Melli and Bank Mellat, adding them to a list of already banned banks. That means the banks will have difficulty turning to European banks for dollars, said Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury Department terrorism expert now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Markass Reviewed by Markass on 10-26-2007. Iran vows 'decisive' relatiation Iran vows 'decisive' retaliation - Focus on Iran - MSNBC.com TEHRAN, Iran - The head of Iranâ??s elite Revolutionary Guards dismissed the possibility of U.S. military action against Iran and warned that his forces would respond with an â??even more decisiveâ?� strike if attacked, an Iranian news agency reported Friday. The comments by Gen. Mohammad Ali Jaafari came after the United States announced sweeping new sanctions against Iran, focusing on the Revolutionary Guards, a force that is Rating: 5

[Psycho4Bud]

I was watching a report a few weeks back on these sanctions. Interesting to say the least. If a company that sells something like cell phones does business with Iran they pretty much excluded themselves from the U.S. market. That includes replacement parts, etc....

The major question will be whether the Iranian people hold this more against the U.S. or their own government for bucking world opinion concerning their nuclear program.

Have a good one!:s4:

[Markass]

yeah....looks like you're going to get what you want though, p4b, I see us going to war with iran soon...

I'm not going to have MY life sacrificed for the middle east, so as soon as the draft starts, it's likely you'll never see me on this website again...at least under this username..

it's so shitty that the only way to not go die for something you don't believe in is to abandon your country, your family, and your life...I can't believe this...we impeach clinton for getting a bj, and bush refuses to listen to the voice of america, continuing the slaying of young american men and women..for his own personal vedetta...it makes no fucking sense..god bless those killed, and those that will be killed, and removed from their families and this world forever...

I have several friends in the Oklahoma national guard, that are nearly terrified of having to be deployed to iraq...they know it's phony bologna, and they didn't even think they were going to have to go to Iraq...it's the fucking National Guard for god sakes...not the motherfucking international guard..

[Psycho4Bud]

yeah....looks like you're going to get what you want though, p4b, I see us going to war with iran soon...

Wanting a war and seeing no other alternative are two different things. The ideal situation would be if Iran were to actually negotiate with other nations to come to a peacefull resolution regarding this.

Hopefully the sanctions will force the people of Iran to take matters into their own hands and make demands of their government.

Have a good one!:s4:

[Markass]

Wanting a war and seeing no other alternative are two different things. The ideal situation would be if Iran were to actually negotiate with other nations to come to a peacefull resolution regarding this.

Hopefully the sanctions will force the people of Iran to take matters into their own hands and make demands of their government.

Have a good one!:s4:

but you and I both know, that they're going to do what they want...and they don't want to listen to us, they want to do what they want to do...they're their own country, we're ours...

When they continue doing things the way they want to, then the war starts..it's inevitable..

[Dutch Pimp]

If the U.S. attacks Iran, the 11,00 conventional missiles they say they have, will rain down like a steel rain, on the Baghdad Green Zone. That will take a lot of people and/or troops out.

[epxroot]

Wanting a war and seeing no other alternative are two different things. The ideal situation would be if Iran were to actually negotiate with other nations to come to a peacefull resolution regarding this.

Hopefully the sanctions will force the people of Iran to take matters into their own hands and make demands of their government.

Have a good one!:s4:

"Negotiate"? I thought it was stop now, or you will face the great hand of the west!

[Psycho4Bud]

but you and I both know, that they're going to do what they want...and they don't want to listen to us, they want to do what they want to do...they're their own country, we're ours...

If only the issue was as simple as that. The problem here is what they do in their country could have long range effects on the world as a whole. Let these crazy ass Mullahs get a nuke and all hell will break loose.

"Negotiate"? I thought it was stop now, or you will face the great hand of the west!

There were negotiations with Russia on refinement but Iran decided that they have the right to do that on their own. That is the key to this entire issue. I don't think that Israel would have went for that anyways but it was a step in the right direction.

Have a good one!:s4:

[psychocat]

I am so sick of the American goverment throwing it's weight around and pretending "it's what the world wants".
America needs to wake up to the fact that nobody wants them policing the world.
With America it's a case of do as we say or we will bomb you , since when was that democracy ?
Americas goverment is fucking insane !

[Nailhead]

Wanting a war and seeing no other alternative are two different things. The ideal situation would be if Iran were to actually negotiate with other nations to come to a peacefull resolution regarding this.

Other nations? The US is primary nation pushing for action against Iran and we won't talk to them. Without talks, there is no diplomacy. The last thing the Bush administration wants is to talk with Iran and actually resolve this peacefully. Does anybody actually believe this bullshit when the Bush administration says they are committed to diplomacy? The Bush administration is hell bent on going to war with Iran, and if the American public doesn't step up and stop him, don't be surprised when we see "Operation Irani Freedom" Hopefully, this useless congress will do something to prevent this, but they haven't done anything so far so I doubt they will be of any help.