Yadlin: Iran response won't be destructive without nukes

Iran's response to an Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities will not be destructive, unless they had a nuclear bomb, INSS head Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin said on Sunday, Army Radio reported.

"[Iran] won't be able to annihilate Tel Aviv until they have a nuclear bomb, and this is what we're trying to stop," the former head of Army Intelligence said.

"Even if Tehran has a few hundreds of rockets - like what Saddam Hussien had during the Gulf War - half of the rockets launched will be intercepted, and I can't recall anyone being killed from the rockets in 1990," he added.

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Yadlin-Iran-response-wont-be-destructive-without-nukes-314428

Iran claims it has new long-range missile launchers 

 Iranian defense minister says enemy would regret any attack.   Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi stated during a ceremony on Sunday that Iran’s Defense Ministry and the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard jointly developed a new long-range surface-to-surface missile launcher. According to the report on Iran’s Press TV website, Vahidi stated that the missiles were for defensive purposes.

“Today, the Defense Ministry, with the key strategy of self-confidence, hard work and self-sufficiency, designs and manufactures different weapons and military systems in aerospace, naval, aerial, ground, electronic and optic fields,” said Vahidi.

Iran has a habit of triumphantly declaring technological achievements that many Western analysts find doubtful, but there is often no way to check if the new declared technology actually works.
Iran’s defense minister also said that it would have a strong response to any aggression, making the enemy regret their attack.

“Iran does not want war with any country and will not be the initiator of any war or conflict, but will also not allow any aggression or hostile act [against the country],” Vahidi added, according to the report.

Vahidi also said that the advance was part of Iran’s larger goal of becoming self-sufficient for crucial weapons systems. The new weapon would allow for firing large numbers of missiles at the enemy, according to Iran’s Mehr News.

Tensions in the region continue to build over the country’s nuclear program and the threat of an Israeli or American strike has Iran building up its defense systems to meet the threat. How much is rhetoric and how much is real, it is not fully known, but the rhetoric has served to prepare and raise the spirits of the Iranian public for any future conflict with Israel or the West.
In addition to the tensions over the nuclear program, the sectarian strife throughout the region, especially in Syria, and in Lebanon, Iraq, and some other Sunni dominated Gulf states, has led to real conflict on the ground and an escalation of fighting between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

 http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Iran-claims-it-has-new-long-range-missile-launchers-314424