Iran Ready for 'Pre-Emptive Attack' on Israel

If Iran really thought Israel was going to attack, it would launch a pre-emptive strike, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard general was quoted as saying yesterday. "Iran will not start any war," he said, according to Iran's state-run Arabic language station, "but it could launch a pre-emptive attack if it was sure that the enemies are putting the final touches to attack it." He said an Israeli attack would trigger "World War III" because America would surely be involved, NBC News reports.

But Iran doesn't actually expect that to happen, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at the UN today. "Fundamentally we do not take seriously the threats of the Zionists," he told reporters, according to Reuters. "While we are fully ready to defend ourselves, we do not take such threats seriously." In other Iran news:

• The country successfully tested a new homegrown anti-aircraft system today, Reuters reports. The system flies at 75,000 feet and has been specifically designed "with the aim of confronting US aircraft," a Revolutionary Guard commander said.
• Iran's Internet Ministry blocked YouTube and Google today over the Innocence of Muslims, CNN reports. A semi-official news agency said the move came "because of popular demand."
• The inflammatory film has also prompted the head of the government's cinema agency to call for a boycott of the Oscars, the AP reports.

(More Iran stories.)