Iran's Revolutionary Guards have begun a military exercise and issued a warning that Israel and US naval forces in the Arabian Gulf would be prime targets if Iran is attacked. The website of the elite Iranian force posted a statement late Monday announcing the military drill, which it said involved “missile squads,” but did not say where it was taking place. Iran's Guards and national army hold regular exercises two or three times a year, but the statement did not say whether this drill was one of them or if it was a special exercise. Israel's military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that US officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons. The Iranian website quoted Guard official Ali Shirazi as saying that Israel's coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and US warships in the Gulf would be among the first targets if Iran comes under attack. “The Zionist regime is pushing the White House to prepare for a military strike on Iran,” Shirazi was quoted as saying. “If such a stupidity is done by them, Tel Aviv and the US naval fleet in the Arabian Gulf will be the first targets which will be set on fire in Iran's crushing response.” Shirazi is a cleric who represents supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the Guards' naval force. Khamenei has the final say over all state matters. “The first shot by the US on Iran will set the US vital interests in the world” at risk, Shirazi said, according to the website. The US Navy's Fifth Fleet, headquartered in the Arabian Gulf nation of Bahrain, is responsible for patrolling the Gulf, the Suez Canal and parts of the Indian Ocean. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev would not comment on Shirazi's warning other than to say “his words speak for themselves.” Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production. On Friday, Iran's top Revolutionary Guards commander, Gen. Mohammed Ali Jafari, said Iran would consider any military action against its nuclear facilities as the beginning of a war. However, Iranian leaders have said they believe the speculation of a military strike is part of a campaign of psychological warfare.
