TEHRAN (Reuters) – Islamist militant groups will fight alongside Iran if the country is attacked by Israel, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Tuesday.
Israel has not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to end a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme, which the United States and its allies suspect is aimed at building an atomic bomb. Iran denies such an ambition, saying it wants to generate electricity using nuclear
power.
“All Islamist militant groups will form a united front with Iran against Israel if it attacks Iran,” Meshaal, visiting Iran, told a news conference broadcast live on state television.
“We are all parts of the same body … We all should fight against the mutual enemy. But how, the leaders will decide, based on our capacities.”
Israeli officials have warned they could try to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities in the same way that Israel bombed Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor in 1981.
Iran has said it will retaliate if attacked, and security analysts believe it would mobilise militant allies such as Palestinian Hamas a… >>>
