Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends an official ceremony in Tehran June 15, 2008. Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said Saturday that his troops would counter any attack against the country, Iran's Press TV satellite channel reported.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    TEHRAN, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said Saturday that his troops would counter any attack against the country, Iran's Press TV satellite channel reported.

    Speaking to reporters on an IRGC command ship in the Gulf fleet headquarters, Jafari said Saturday that Iran's armed forces are prepared to detect and repel any potential attack against the country's nuclear facilities.

    After overseeing a military exercise aimed at detecting and destroying mock targets in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, Jafari asserted that Iran's army is able to instantly respond to any act of aggression.

    The maneuver, which was a rehearsal of different passive defense methods, included torpedo and missile speedboat drills, Press TV quoted unidentified sources as saying.

    Jafari's remarks came after a U.S. report that Israel's recent large-scale military exercise was apparently a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities.

    The New York Times reported Friday that U.S. military believed the major military exercise by Israel earlier this month was a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

    Some American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.

    More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June, U.S. officials said.

    The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles (1,450 kilometers), which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.

    A spokesman for the Israeli military said that Israel's air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel," but declining to discuss details of the exercise.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who visited Washington in early June, said that "the Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means," indicating that military resort can not be excluded.

    His remarks about Iran's nuclear threat are believed to be the strongest one the Israeli leader has made on the issue.