US attack risks ‘full-fledged war,’ warns Khamenei aide

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is a possible 2021 presidential candidate is warning that any American atack on the Islamic Republic could set off a “full-fledged war” in the Mideast in the waning days of the Trump administration.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Hossein Dehghan struck a hardline tone familiar to those in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a force he long served in before becoming a defense minister under President Hassan Rouhani.

“We don’t welcome a crisis. We don’t welcome war. We are not ater starting a war,” Dehghan said Wednesday.

“But we are not ater negotiations for the sake of negotiations either.” Dehghan, 63, described himself as a “nationalist” with “no conventional political tendency” during an interview in his wood-paneled office in downtown Tehran.

The former head of the Guard’s air force who achieved the rank of brigadier general said any negotiations with the West could not include Iran’s ballistic missiles, which he described as a “deterrent” to Tehran’s adversaries.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not negotiate its defensive power with anybody under any circumstances,” Dehghan said. “Missiles are a symbol of the massive potential that is in our experts, young people and industrial centres.” Dehghan warned against any American military escalation in Trump’s final weeks in office.

“A limited, tactical conflict can turn into a full-fledged war,” he said. “Definitely, the United States, the region and the world cannot stand such a comprehensive crisis.” Dehghan said those UN checks should continue so long as an inspector is not a “spy.”

In the time since, an advanced centrifuge assembly plant at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site exploded and caught fire in July. Dehghan said that reconstruction at Natanz was ongoing ater satellite photos showed new construction at the site. He described the incident as “industrial sabotage.” “Those who were in charge of installing some devices possibly made some changes there that led to the explosion,” Dehghan said, without elaborating.