Ali Akbar Velayati, Senior Advisor to Iran's Leader Khamenei, Warns Israel against Attacking Iran: It Is Like Playing with Fire

Following are excerpts from an interview with Ali Akbar Velayati, senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which aired on Channel 2, Iranian TV, on July 8, 2009.

Interviewer: These past few days, much of the media – Western and regional – has been saying that the Israelis have become audacious and eager to attack Iran, and so on. For example, Mr. Joseph Biden gave them the green light. Then Obama said: “No, there was no green light.” Biden himself said that it wasn’t, but later, he reiterated that it was. Then they said that the [Israeli] submarine crossed the Suez Channel, and then returned. What is the motive for saying such things under the present circumstances?

Ali Akbar Velayati: With regard to those Zionist fossils, such as Peres and others like him, who had many opportunities, but failed, [their] statements are not rooted in reality, but instead, are intended as a propaganda maneuver. They themselves are aware of this, and so are those who support them behind the scenes, like the Americans and the Europeans.

The Middle East is a very sensitive region, and its political, security, and military equilibrium is very delicate and fragile as a whole. Among all the countries of the region, Iran alone is an anchor of stability. Iran’s enemies know that if the situation in Iran falls apart, the entire region will fall apart. In the event that a decision is made to attack Iran, you will no longer have any security in the Middle East. In such a case, the profits that the Americans, Europeans, and others hoped to gain in the Middle East will fall apart, despite their calculations. They are aware of that.

It is inconceivable that if, say, someone fires a missile at Iran, Iran will keep quiet. When Saddam Hussein attacked Iran – back in the days when Iran, after the revolution, was not yet fully developed in terms of its military defense – did Iran keep quiet?! The war lasted eight years. The entire world mobilized to put an end to the war. Were they protecting us? They were supporting Saddam Hussein. They realized that if [the war] continued, all would be lost in the Middle East. In the Middle East, such deeds are like playing with fire. It is like playing in an ammunition depot.