Iran’s former naval chief says country has 100 military vessels to confront each US warship

Iran says it has 100 vessels for each US warship

TEHRAN, Iran — A former naval chief in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says his country has set aside 100 military vessels to confront each U.S. warship that poses a threat.

Gen. Morteza Saffari is quoted by the conservative weekly Panjereh Saturday as saying that troops aboard U.S. 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 Persian Gulf, a vital oil route.

The U.S., which has ships in the Gulf, has not ruled out a military strike to thwart what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran denies its atomic program is aimed at making weapons.