Brigadier-General
Muhammad
Ali
Jafari
told
the
Shargh
newspaper
on
Wednesday
that
Tehran
"will
counter
any
stupid
action
by
Israel
and
its
master
with
firmness
and
in
an
astonishing
way".
The
commander
of
the
Revolutionary
Guards'
ground
forces
said
Iran
now
had
the
capacity
to
defeat
any
invader
within
months.
"We
pushed
the
Baathist
enemy
from
our
country
within
one
and
a
half
years,"
he
said,
referring
to
the
opening
campaigns
of
the
1980-88
war
with
Iraq.
"With
the
experience
and
skills
from
that
war
and
in
the
case
of
any
invasion,
the
invaders
will
be
defeated
in
less
than
one
and
a
half
months,"
Jafari
said.
US
officials
have
in
recent
days
hardened
their
tone
against
the
Islamic
republic,
which
US
President
George
Bush
had
earlier
lumped
into
an
"axis
of
evil"
with
Iraq
and
North
Korea.
Increasing
tensions
Last
Monday,
Bush
said
he
could
not
rule
out
using
force
if
Tehran
failed
to
rein
in
its
nuclear
plans,
and
US
Vice-President
Dick
Cheney
said
Iran
was
"right
at
the
top
of
the
list"
of
global
trouble
spots.
|
"We
would
love
American
commandos
to
enter
Iran ...
because
they
are
chicks.
Our
eagles
will
catch
them
in
no
time.
The
Americans
are
stupid,
but
not
as
stupid
as
that"
Ali
Yunusi,
Iranian
intelligence
minister
|
Cheney
also
warned
that
Israel
might
launch
a
pre-emptive
strike
on
its
own
to
shut
down
Iran's
nuclear
programme.
But
Iranian
Intelligence
Minister
Ali
Yunusi
responded
to
both
Bush
and
Cheney's
remarks
in
a
broadcast
on
Iran's
Channel
two.
"This
is
a
psychological
war
that
they
have
started
in
order
to
influence
the
talks
on
the
nuclear
issue.
"They
think
that
this
way
they
can
force
us
to
make
the
concessions
they
want.
Otherwise,
they
do
not
have
the
ability
to
carry
out
their
military
threat,"
he
told
Aljazeera.net.
When
asked if
he
believed
claims
made
by
US
journalist
Seymour
Hersh
that
US
commandos
were
operating
inside
Iran,
Yunusi
rejected
the
idea.
"We
would
love
American
commandos
to
enter
Iran ...
because
they
are
chicks.
Our
eagles
will
catch
them
in
no
time.
The
Americans
are
stupid,
but
not
as
stupid
as
that."
