Iran security chief threatens to strike US bases in Europe if used for attacks
Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has threatened to strike US bases beyond the Middle East, including in Europe, if they are used for attacks against Iran. “If American aircraft take off from an American military base, even one located in a European country or some other distant region, to bomb Iran, we will strike those bases as well,” Rezaei told Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. He also said that Iran’s response to renewed US attacks would “target America’s more distant military installations - including the ones we have not yet attacked,” without specifying.
“We may even strike certain islands that they assume are beyond the reach of our missiles,” he added during the interview, which was conducted in Tehran. For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The Middle East war broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at countries across the region, while the militant groups it backs in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq also entered the fray.
Diplomatic efforts led by Qatar and Pakistan have been underway to negotiate an end to the war. Tehran insists that Washington accept a raft of demands including unfreezing assets and lifting sanctions in return for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the vital energy conduit it has blockaded since the start of the conflict. The US and Israel have repeatedly cited Iran’s nuclear program as part of their justification for the war, but Rezaei said the nuclear issue was “not currently” part of the talks and that Tehran had already established red lines, including that it would “not send even a tiny amount of the enriched material outside Iran.”
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article quotes Rezaei refusing to send enriched material abroad, then places the 60 percent stockpile next to the 90 percent bomb threshold. It leaves out that in the same interview Rezaei said Tehran would keep the material for nuclear-powered ships and submarines. Without that, a reader sees the refusal only through the bomb threshold, and never learns Iran's stated reason.
How we know
- Times of Israel reported“Tehran is determined to keep all its enriched material for nuclear-powered ships and submarines he claims the country is developing”Iran threatens to strike US bases in Europe if used to strike Iran (opens in a new tab)
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article presents the Strait of Hormuz standoff as Iran's blockade alone. It shortens Iran's demands to unfreezing assets and lifting sanctions. It leaves out that Rezaei's demands include lifting a US blockade, reparations and an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. A reader is left thinking only Iran is blockading anything.
How we know
- Times of Israel reported“including a lifting of US sanctions and blockade, reparations, and an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon”Iran threatens to strike US bases in Europe if used to strike Iran (opens in a new tab)
Iran’s nuclear program - and its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 percent, close to the 90 percent threshold needed for an atomic bomb - has been at the center of tensions for years. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no need to attack Iran again, citing what he described as successful efforts to undermine its economy. Washington has appeared to taper down recent threats of renewed strikes after the defeat of President Donald Trump’s Republican party in recent midterm elections, in part due to the unpopularity of the war on Iran.
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Read the original article on english.alarabiya.net (opens in a new tab)