Earlier on Saturday the regime in Tehran threatened the United States that if it would use force against the former, World War III will surely ensue.

“Any aggression against Iran will start a world war,” deputy chief of staff for defence publicity, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, said in a statement carried by the agency.

“The unrestrained greed of the US leadership and global Zionism… is gradually leading the world to the edge of a precipice,” Jazayeri said, citing the unrest in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and Georgia. “It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything,” he said, without naming any countries.

Iran does not recognize Israel, which is often described by officials in Tehran as a “fake regime.” It often claims that the Israeli government is controlled by the U.S.

Interestingly enough, Tehran sometimes changes its conspiracy; the one day Tel Aviv is Washington’s puppet, the other day the roles are reversed.

Iran’s threat cannot be taken seriously, however. The hatred and rhetoric are probably heartfelt, but Iran lacks the power, strength and influence to start a third world war. The first and second world wars were all ignited by major powers; what caused them to be world wars was that certain major powers went to war with other major powers. As a result, smaller, allied countries got involved as well.

Since Iran is not a major power, however, using force against Tehran’s Mullahs will not cause worldwide chaos; terrorism may increase, and some Moslem countries may side with the Iranians, but overall such a war would be between the West and Iran. Not between the West and the entire Moslem world, let alone the rest of it.