Tehran: A former naval chief in Iran's Revolutionary Guard says his country
has set aside 100 military vessels to confront each US warship that poses a threat.
General Morteza Saffari is quoted by the conservative weekly Panjereh on Saturday as
saying that troops aboard US warships are "morsels" for Iran to target in the event
of any American threat against Iran.
In 2008, Iran put its most powerful military force, the Revolutionary Guard, in
charge of defending the country's territorial waters in the Arabian Gulf, a vital
oil route.
The US, which has ships in the Gulf, has not ruled out a military strike to thwart
what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear weapons programme. Iran denies its atomic
programme is aimed at making weapons.
