Tabnak – Iran’s active approach toward regional security and its involvement in fighting security threats throughout the region have always been among the main points of Western criticisms against the Islamic Republic. However, Iran’s IRGC once again makes it clear that the country continues dealing with threats beyond its borders.
In this vein, the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran will give a crushing response to any threat to its security even if it requires extraterritorial operations.
“Iran will never avoid giving response [to threats] beyond its borders if its security is put in danger,” Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari told Yemen’s al-Masirah TV on Friday.
General Jafari also referred to US President Donald Trump’s claim that his administration has decreased the Islamic Republic’s power, and said, “If in the past we could defend the Southwest Asia … in 12 minutes, we can do it now in a shorter time.”
The Iranian commander’s remarks came after Trump claimed on Tuesday Iran planned to take control of the Middle East in just “12 minutes.”
“Look at Iran, before I got there (to the White House), Iran was going to take (control) the Middle East in about 12 minutes, right?” Trump told his supporters in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
General Jafari further referred to US sanctions against Iran and said the Iranian nation has grown accustomed to such unilateral sanctions. “Despite the sanctions, we have managed to achieve self-sufficiency and strengthen our national solidarity.”
The top commander made the comments a couple of weeks after the IRGC attacked the gathering of the ringleaders of a recent terror attack in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz with several surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in an area east of the Euphrates in Syria.
The strike took place on October 1 by the IRGC’s Aerospace Division, killing and injuring dozens of Takfiri terrorists and ringleaders of the September 22 attack, in which 25 people were killed and 69 others wounded.
Iran’s top general has stressed that the retaliatory attacks were just the first stage of Tehran’s revenge against those who sponsored and orchestrated the Ahvaz attack, for which Tehran holds “regional terror sponsors” and their “US masters” responsible.
Meanwhile, the commander of the IRGC Navy praised the powerful presence of the Iranian Armed Forces in international waters and said close cooperation between the IRGC and Army navies would guarantee the country’s security.
Speaking at a meeting with a number of Army commanders in the coastal province of Hormozgan in southern Iran, Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri highlighted the strategic position of the Army’s Navy and said, “The powerful presence of the Navy in international waters is actually kind of breaking the frontline (of enemies)…”
He further stressed the necessity for the Iranian Armed Forces to preserve their military preparedness and said close cooperation between the IRGC and Army navies will defeat enemies and guarantee "the existence of the security".
Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.
Back in February 2018, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran’s defense capabilities, hitting back at the enemies for disputing the country’s missile program.
