Comander-in-chief of Iran's army, Ataollah Salehi, said Saturday that the armed forces of his country are prepared for any operation Israel may launch against Iran. He spoke in a press conference during the largest, most extensive exercise the Iranian army has ever held.
According to him, "What we know about this enemy up until now is that it is insane. Therefore we must always be prepared in the face of this insane enemy."
General Salehi added that Israel was taken by surprise by Hizbullah's response: "The enemy went mad, made erroneous calculations and attacked Lebanon. Of course, it received a decisive blow from Hizbullah when it was surprised by Hizbullah's capabilities. There are two options: either this revolting enemy learned a lesson, or it didn't."
The Iranian general detailed the objectives of the exercise, which is not limited time wise: "This exercise is part of an extensive exercise being held throughout Iran with the objective of evaluating the professional capability of the army in all areas."
All the arms of the Iranian army – air, land, and sea forces – are participating in the exercise during which exercises combining air operations, parachuting infantry from helicopters, air defense and hand-to-hand combat will be carried out. During the exercise, it is likely that the Iranian army will try out missiles and weaponry of local make.
Iran is very concerned about an aerial attack on its nuclear facilities by Israel, and especially the United States. Commander of the Iranian land forces said that in the coming days the military will hold experimental launches of surface-to-air missiles.
According to him, "We succeeded in achieving such capabilities that won't allow any air force to stand up against the Iranian army in such a wide geographical area." He said that some of the rockets to be launched have a range of upwards of 1,200 kilometers at aerial targets.
The Commander of the Iranian land forces said that the purpose of the exercise is to present the operational capability of the army and to shorten the response time of its forces.