TEHRAN – Ali Larijani, an advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has said that the conflict between Iran and Israel cannot be resolved through diplomacy.

Larijani, the former Iranian parliament speaker, made the remarks while attending a book unveiling ceremony held at The National Library and Archives of Iran on Wednesday morning. 

The ceremony for unveiling the Persian translation of Israeli author Ronen Bergman’s “The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power” was also attended by former culture ministers Hossein Safar Harandi and Seyed Abbas Salehi.

The book is translated by Iranian political analyst Abbas Salimi Namin who also appended a review to the book whose Persian version appeared in 850 pages.  The Persian version and its review are titled “The Secret War against Iran and the Half a Century of Failure.”

“This book is one of the most important and significant works in understanding the history of Iran before and after the Revolution, especially the scholarly review of Mr. Salimi Namin, which has been written under the title of ‘half a century of failure’,” Larijani said, according to state news agency IRNA. 

He added, “Mr. Bergman is a well-known military and security analyst who writes in Israeli newspapers and is considered a senior military and security expert, but in the book under review, he has shown another face that may be very harmful to a seasoned researcher.”

Larijani said, “First of all, there is a lot of undocumented material in this book, and for someone who wants to make a claim about the events of the Revolution, his citations should be very clear, while we did not see citations in this book and we mostly witnessed storytelling.”

The former speaker of parliament said Bergman’s book included a lot of insults, expletives and false claims.  “This book relies heavily on Mossad data, while intelligence services are slanted,” Larijani said.

He added, “The first thing we notice in this book is the status of the Islamic Revolution. Bergman has a clear opposition to the Revolution, but acknowledges the status of the Islamic Revolution.”

Larijani said Israel's conflict with Iran is a strategic issue and Bergman points to this issue. “As a result, this issue cannot be resolved through diplomacy. The Imam [Khomeini] and the Islamic Revolution really changed the map of the Middle East, and Bergman's argument is that the Islamic Revolution is a major obstacle to the realization of the demands of the United States and Israel in the region,” he continued. 

Larijani said he believes that Israel has now learned how to confront the Islamic Revolution. “In my opinion, today they have learned how to confront the Revolution, which is why it is necessary for the military and political officials of the country to pay more attention.”

Over the last few weeks, Israel has launched an all-out media campaign against Iran that included bizarre claims of Iranian threats against ordinary tourists in neighboring Turkey.

Israeli media and officials first issued warnings of imminent alleged threats from Iran to Israeli tourists in Turkey and then claimed that “several” attacks were foiled as a result of Turkish-Israeli security cooperation. “The operational efforts with the Turkish security forces have borne fruit,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed. “In recent days, in a joint Israeli-Turkish effort, we thwarted a number of attacks and a number of terrorists were arrested on Turkish soil.”

Neither Bennett nor other Israeli officials have offered any kind of evidence to support their claims.
 
The string of warnings began on Friday when several Israeli officials alleged that there were “concrete” threats that Iran was allegedly trying to target Israelis in Istanbul over the weekend, and urged all Israeli citizens to leave Turkey immediately.

Iran has officially responded to Israeli hyperboles. Iran believes that Israel is openly spreading lies unworthy of a response. Nour News, a news outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran is determined to avenge the assassination of Colonel Sayad Khodaei but it’ll not target innocent people.

“Given the past experiences, the Zionist regime [Israel] is well aware of the certainty of Iran’s response to this regime’s mischief and terrorist moves such as the martyrdom of Sayad Khodaei,” Nour News said, adding, “The officials of this regime also know that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not punish innocent individuals when taking vengeance on the Zionist government’s crimes.”

The outlet said the leaders of Israel know that only the perpetrators and those who issued orders will be punished. This is why Israeli officials seek to mobilize the public with unfounded claims to increase the cost of Iran’s revenge, according to Nour News.