Iranian Official: If Attacked, We'll Destroy Tel Aviv, Haifa With Our 2,500km-Range Missiles; No Iranian – Not Even The President – Is Entitled To Take A Position Against Khamenei's

On June 27, 2013, in speeches in Rasht, in northern Iran, Assembly of Experts member and Tehran Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami warned president-elect Hassan Rohani that if he took positions opposed to those of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei he would lose the regime's support.[1] He stressed the supremacy of the Rule of the Jurisprudent, even over the will of the people, and stated that the meaning of faith in God is loyalty to Khamenei.

Khatami also reiterated the regime's position that the source of the dispute with the West over Iran's nuclear program is the West's attempts to oust the regime of the Islamic Revolution, and disclosed that Iran possesses missiles with 2,500-km range that would destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran.

Clarifying that that Tehran assists any Palestinian organization that wages an armed struggle against Israel, Khatami expressed satisfaction that the Iranian Fajr-5 missiles provided by Iran to Hamas and Islamic Jihad had struck Tel Aviv during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012.[2]

Following are excerpts from Khatami's statements:

Warning To President-Elect Rohani

Khatami said: "The president spoke [in his first post-election speech on June 17, 2013] about defending [Iranian] national rights, [the need for] clarifying the [Iranian] position [to] the U.S., and about our owing nothing to anyone... Anyone taking a position opposing that of the leader of the Islamic society [i.e. Khamenei] must expect consequences and the results from the nation [that is, the regime]. The rule of the jurisprudent is the standard of the nation in the regime of the Islamic Republic, and none – not even the president – is entitled to take a position against it...

"The nation's motto is always: 'We are all your soldiers, Khamenei, we are attentive to your instructions, Khamenei'..."

Loyalty To Khamenei Is The True Meaning Of Belief In God

Stating that "the circle of justice is divine, and the leader of society [Khamenei], by the grace of God, has no thirst for power," Khatami went on to say that loyalty to the leader [Khamenei] is the true meaning of belief in God, and added: "Every circle except the rule of the jurisprudent is null and void."[3]

The West Does Not Want To Solve The Issue Of Iran's Nuclear Program

Claiming that the Shi'ites' are being killed in various places worldwide because of their faith, Khatami explained that "all the battles waged by the world of arrogance [i.e. the West, led by the U.S.] from the victory of the Islamic Revolution to this day were against a backdrop of religion." He said that the West's problem with Iran is not with the Islamic Revolution, nuclear energy, or nuclear weapons, but with the fact that they are Shi'ites, and added: "The world of arrogance does not want to solve the issue of Iran's nuclear energy."

If We Are Attacked, We'll Destroy Tel Aviv And Haifa

Khatami was quoted as saying that Iran possesses missiles with a 2,500 km range, and as adding, "If the Zionist regime wants to attack Iran [even] in the most minimal fashion, we will destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa. We fear no one."

We Will Support Any Palestinian Organization Fighting Israel

Khatami said: "As the Leader [Khamenei] instructed, we are assisting any Palestinian group that wants to fight the Zionist regime." He added that during the Hamas-Israel clash in November 2012 Iran's Fajr-5 missiles had turned Tel Aviv into a ghost town.[4]