Death to Israel!' Iran Marks Islamic Revolution
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Iranians are celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution Tuesday.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are rallying in Tehran, shouting the same old chants of "Down with the U.S." and "Death to Israel."
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted Iran for sending warships close to U.S. maritime borders.
Netanyahu said the move shows that easing economic sanctions on Iran hasn't stopped its aggression.
"The international easing of the sanctions against Iran has not led Iran to moderate its international aggression," Netanyahu told cabinet ministers at the weekly meeting. "The complete opposite has occurred."
The Iranian fleet consists of a destroyer and a supply ship. They're carrying an estimated 30 naval academy cadets for training along with the regular crews.
Iran said the move is in response to the U.S. Navy's deployment near its own coastlines.
"Iran's military fleet is approaching the United States' maritime borders and this move has a message," said Adm. Afshin Rezayee Haddad, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
Last Friday, Iranian state-run television broadcast a documentary entitled, "Nightmare of a Vulture," featuring simulated attacks on Tel Aviv and Haifa and the USS Abraham Lincoln in response to a military attack on its nuclear facilities.
"Anybody who thinks of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran should be prepared to receive strong slaps and iron fists from the armed forces," Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says in footage taken from a 2011 speech to naval cadets.
"And America, its regional puppets and its guard dog -- the Zionist regime -- should know that the response of the Iranian nation to any kind of aggression, attacks, or even threats will be a response that will make them collapse from within," he warned.
