Gen. Hossein Kan’ani Moghadam, former deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, confirmed that Tehran has dug mass graves for American soldiers in the event of an American attack. The graves are located in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, where Iraqi soldiers killed during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War are buried. “The mass graves that used to be for burying Saddam’s soldiers have now been prepared again for U.S. soldiers, and this is the reason for digging this big number of graves,” Moghadam told The Associated Press Television News last night.
While aggressive, the graves are likely nothing more than a show of Iranian bravado. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that the U.S. will attack Iran with a land invasion, if the White House decides to authorize a preemptive strike. In addition, Iran has so far suggested counter-action will be aimed at American allies in the Gulf and Western bases there.
Image of the mass graves Iran has reportedly dug for American soldiers. |
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It is no secret that Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons would provide the regime with unprecedented power and influence in the region. In fact, it would enable Tehran to move the small Gulf states away from their alliance with the West while empowering Israel’s enemies such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
But how likely is a U.S. attack on Iran? According to Jeffrey Goldberg’s article online today in The Atlantic, while a military option is still on the president’s table, the U.S. has yet to come close to making that decision – or even hinting that it will. And, as a result, America’s Middle Eastern allies are left reading tea leaves. In addition, Goldberg notes, if the U.S. won’t attack, “there is a better than 50 percent chance that Israel will launch a strike by next July.”
There is no doubt that taking military action against Iran is a last resort for both the United States and Israel. But as sanctions have yet to take the desired bite and affect the Iranian regime’s calculus, the remaining question is whether the United States would allow Israel to strike, or whether the White House has the capacity to explore the last of all options reported to be on the table?
