Can Iran Defeat US, Zionist Regime in Psychological War

While psychological warfare has been an inseparable part of the US and Zionist regime strategy toward Islamic Republic of Iran during the last three decades and in the meantime, with the increase of other tools of pressure involving sanctions and military threats against Tehran, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei latest speech in Friday prayer on February 3 marked the defeat of West in this warfare.

Iran’s supreme leader said on Friday prayer that Tehran would support any political and even military action against the occupying force of Zionist regime. These remarks halted the West approach in which it threatened IRI by the means of Tel-Aviv officials.

Pointing to the claims by Bahraini rulers about Islamic Republic of Iran involvement in the country’s popular uprisings, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: “Whenever we are involved, we explicitly declare it. We were involved in the anti-Israel events, which resulted in victories in the 33-day and 22-day wars. And from now on, wherever a nation or a group fights and confronts the Zionist regime, we will support and help it, and we are not at all afraid of saying this.”

Increase of threats against IRI

US has always used Zionist regime as a pressure tool in case of military threat against Iran and in the latest rounds of such threats, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yalom in his speech in an academic conference held in 2012 February 2 in Herzliya said that Iranian nuclear sites that does not provide adequate protection in areas of underground shelters are vulnerable to a possible military attack. Meanwhile, the prospect of war in the Middle East stoked media attention after a Washington Post editorial writer claimed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes that Israel may attack Iran this spring.

“Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June — before Iran enters what Israelis described as a ‘zone of immunity’ to commence building a nuclear bomb,”

In addition to the military threats, assassination of Iranian scientists could be named as one of the reasons why Iran’s most high-ranking official declared war against Tel-Aviv.

In latest rounds of assassinations, Ahmadi Roshan deputy director of Natanz uranium enrichment facility for commercial affairs was assassinated in a blast that took place on the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian university professor and nuclear scientist, Massoud Alimohammadi. The today bombing method was similar to the 2010 terrorist bomb attacks against the then university professor Majid Shahriari. Jamali Fashi the killer of Alimohammadi said in his confessions aired by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on January 11, 2011 that he had been trained in Israeli garrison how to carry out bomb attacks while riding a motorcycle.

In this situation that as a consequence of ongoing regional Islamic awakening, anti-Israel feelings is increasing; such assassinations are good excuses for Iran to start harder actions against Tel-Aviv. Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) upcoming drills in the Strait of Hormuz as well as Tehran’s retaliatory actions can contain Zionist regime more than ever in the months ahead.

Threats stop after IRI strong response

Iran firm stand toward US and Zionist regime threats resulted in hurried reaction of western officials and US President Barak Obama in an interview with an American network declared that Israel has no intention to attack Tehran. "I don't think Israel has made a decision" to hit Iranian facilities, he told NBC.

US president added: "Again, our goal is to resolve this diplomatically. That would be preferable. We're not going to take options off the table, though."

Furthermore, according to the Hebrew-language Maariv daily, Zionist regime Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reportedly told top security officials and commanders to stop talking about a potential strike on Iran. "Stop blabbing, already; this chit-chat causes huge damage, puts Israel on the front line, and undermines sanctions,” he noted.

Maariv cited unnamed senior sources who said Netanyahu was concerned Israel "might be perceived as dragging the US into a war with Iran against its will and endangering the US' national interests".

In addition to the remarks by US, Zionist regime officials, changes in Zionist regime army and replacement of a warmongering commander Major General Ido Nehushtan with a moderate one Major-General Amir Eshel last week as the new head of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) showed that Tel-Aviv is trying to take distance from the hawkish tactics. International observers look upon this change as a strategic shift because Nehushtan was one of the advocates of military attack on Iran and on the contrary, Eshel is against such actions. 

US, Zionist regime last option for Iran

In conclusion, consequences of Iran's supreme leader latest Friday speech is far more than what was revealed in the media. Trying to describe the importance of Ayatollah Khamenei role in decision making in Iran, Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said that Iran’s supreme leader disarranges the complicated plans of international security organizations by a speech.

The US RAND National Defense Research Institute released recently an article by Dalia Dassa Kaye, Alireza Nader, and Parisa Roshan titled as “Israel and Iran: A Dangerous Rivalry” which discussed the importance of strengthening Iranian opposition as the only way to halt Iran nuclear progress and decrease the threats of a military conflict between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.

The article said: “Israel sees Iran as its predominant security challenge posing grave strategic and ideological challenges to the Jewish state. Israeli concerns that the Arab uprisings may benefit Iran and enhance its regional influence have only deepened Israeli alarm, even if the reality of enhanced Iranian influence may be questionable.”

It also wrote that “today, Israelis view nearly every regional threat through the prism of Iran. Israel’s threat perceptions of Iran stem in part from expanding Iranian missile capabilities and nuclear advances. But just as critical is Israel’s view that Iranian regional influence is on the rise, infringing on core Israeli interests and threatening stability in areas bordering Israel. Israeli leaders worry that if Iran acquired a nuclear weapons capability; its influence would only increase, severely limiting both Israeli and US military and political maneuverability in the region.”

The article added: “Moreover, the Middle East’s geopolitical transformation over the last decade has intensified the rivalry. The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 eliminated a common adversary of both Israel and Iran. Iran began to see itself as the Middle East’s ascendant power, a view shared by many of Israel’s political and military elite. Other events such as the 2006 war between Hizballah and Israel—in which Iranian tactics and arms were seen as effective against Israel—reinforced the viewpoint of Iran as the region’s great power. The Arab uprisings of 2011 have further fed Israeli concerns, although that turmoil has also created some new vulnerabilities and limitations for Iranian influence. The new regional landscape has enhanced Israeli fears of continued Iranian penetration into contested arenas close to home (particularly Gaza and Lebanon) and Iranian perceptions of the United States as a declining power.”

Dalia Dassa Kaye, Alireza Nader, and Parisa Roshan concluded in the article that “a different set of Iranian leaders with less hostile views of Israel could diminish the rivalry between the two nations. The political and economic interests of reformists and pragmatic conservatives could lead to a lessening of tensions if these groups were to gain power in the future. The potential emergence of a secular democratic Iran may entirely obviate the need for a continued rivalry with Israel.”