Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami said the Islamic Republic is fully prepared to face any military power following Washington’s provocative moves in the Persian Gulf.
“Iran has no worries. We are ready to defend our independence, vital interests and achievements of our great (1979 Islamic) Revolution as we have demonstrated over the past 41 years,” Major General Salami said on Friday in an address to a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.
“Today, we have no problems, worries nor concerns to face any military power,” he stressed.
He said the Pentagon’s recent decision to ramp up its military presence and activities in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is because of the mistake it made last year.
Salami noted that the assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and his Iraqi comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and their companions has created hatred among Muslims worldwide.
General Soleimani and his Iraqi comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were assassinated along with their companions in a US terror drone strike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
“This intense hatred always haunts Americans like a nightmare. They have taken a series of actions to escape from this horrible nightmare. We have braced ourselves for any scenario,” he pointed out.
- Tensions have risen between Iran and the US ahead of the first anniversary of the assassination of Iran’s legendary anti-terror commander.
The Pentagon has decided to send home the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that will reduce American firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran.
The decision, announced Thursday by the acting secretary of defense, Christopher Miller, came one day after Air Force B-52 bombers flew nonstop from the United States to the Persian Gulf in a show of force that military officials said was intended to caution Iran.
Announcing the deployment, the head of US Central Command said Wednesday that it was to show that “we are ready and able to respond to any aggression directed at Americans or our interests.”
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The USS Nimitz, the US Navy’s only aircraft carrier currently deployed near the Persian Gulf, has been sent home just a day after two B-52 bombers were sent to the area – despite supposed ‘chatter’ about a coming Iranian attack.
ReplyDeleteActing Defense Secretary Chris Miller announced the Nimitz would be heading back to its home port of Bremerton, Washington on Thursday, avoiding so much as a mention of Iran in his remarks – even as Washington and Tehran have traded threats and barbs for weeks ahead of the anniversary of Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani’s killing by US airstrike.
DeleteThe Nimitz’s departure after over eight months deployed to the Persian Gulf leaves Iranian waters unoccupied (by the US, at least) – an odd choice, given Washington flew two nuclear-capable B-52s over the body of water earlier this week, announced the deployment of a submarine to the area, and sent still more fighter planes to Saudi Arabia.
DeleteThe B-52 flyover was supposed to be a “show of force” to deter further Iranian revenge, as threatened by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this week – but it only succeeded in eliciting more hostility, as an unnamed Iranian military officer warned breaching the country’s airspace would elicit a “crushing and fiery response.”
ReplyDeleteIranian FM Javad Zarif claimed on Thursday that Iraqi intelligence had revealed a US plot to “fabricate pretext for war” – possibly by staging a false-flag event. While making clear Tehran was not interested in war, he promised the country would “openly and directly” defend itself. Zarif previously warned President Donald Trump against engaging in any “adventurism on his way out” after the president blamed a rocket attack in Baghdad’s Green Zone on Tehran – as usual, without conclusive proof.
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