War with Israel is certain: Iran

Tehran: Iran has acknowledged the probability of war with Israel for the first time, claiming it will destroy the Jewish state.

The statement comes as the United States reaffirmed its commitment to preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. According to The Telegraph, General Mohamed Ali Jafari, chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, predicting that "war will happen" with the Jewish state. "The shameful and cancerous tumour that is Israel is seeking war against us, but it is not known when that war will happen. They now consider war as the only way to confront us, but they are so stupid that their (US) masters should stop them," he said, speaking at a military exhibition in Tehran. "If they begin, it will spell their destruction and will be the end of the story, even if they act rationally, this incident will happen," he added, noting that the Islamic revolution is "moving rapidly towards its goals and they (Israel) cannot tolerate this." According to the report, Iran insists that its nuclear enrichment programme is exclusively for peaceful, civilian purposes, but General Jafari warned ominously that any war with Israel would be ‘very different’ in nature to previous conflicts. "We are putting all of our efforts into boosting our (military) capability so that, if an aggression occurs, we can defend ourselves and those who need our help," he said. "We have become more serious in the face of the threats of the enemy against our country,” he added. ANI