Iran Military Unit Will Destroy Israel Within Two Decades, Former General Claims

A newly created Iranian military unit seeks to carry out the destruction of Israel within the next two decades, a former senior military commander said last week. Retired Iranian Revolutionary Guards General Mohammad Ali Al Falaki claims the recently formed Shi'ite Liberation Army will wipe out Israel through extraterritorial military operations, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

The military unit has been tasked with fighting from Iraq, Syria and Yemen with the goal of ending the Jewish state, according to an interview with Iran's Mashregh news agency. The mission statement is to "eradicate Israel after 23 years, especially that these battalions are now on Israeli borders."

It was not clear how many soldiers will report to the so-called "Liberation Army," Al Jazeera reported. Iranian military leaders have previously warned they had the capacity to destroy Israel "in eight minutes."

"The forces that belong to this army are not Iranians only. In any place where there is a fight, we organize and supply the army from the people of the area," said Falaki.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in 2015 Israel will no longer exist by 2045. "After negotiations, in the Zionist regime they said they had no more concern about Iran for the next 25 years. Firstly, you will not see the next 25 years. God willing, there will be nothing of the Zionist regime by the next 25 years," he tweeted at the time. In March, Khamenei said Iran must nurture relations with the rest of the world, with the exception of "the U.S. and the Zionist regime."

"We have suffered damages from west and should not forget what west did to us," Mehr news agency reported Khamenei as saying.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Western leaders, including the United Kingdom and the United States, to cease negotiations with Iran over its nuclear weapons programs so long as Tehran continues to call for Israel's annihilation. Israel has also threatened to attack Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programs.