Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander for Political Affairs Brigadier General Yadollah Javani underlined Iran’s special geopolitical situation, saying that security of all waterways in the region depend on the country’s presence and assistance.
“Iran’s geopolitical situation is in a way that establishment of security in the regional waterways is not possible without the Islamic Republic’s presence,” General Javani said on Saturday.
He blamed deployment of foreign and trans-regional forces for instability in the region, and said, “Today, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz waterways enjoy good security to transfer energy and oil and many world experts stress the Islamic Republic’s unique role in the establishment of security in the region.”
General Javani referred to the US threats to prevent Iran’s oil exports, and said Tehran’s reciprocal threat is credible and well-founded.
In relevant remarks on Thursday, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani blasted US President Donald Trump for his hollow threats against Iran, warning that the Quds Force alone is powerful enough to stand against Washington in any possible confrontation without any need to the other Iranian armed forces.
“We are closer to you than what you think. You should know that I am your foe. The Quds Force alone and not all the (Iranian) Armed Forces is enough to be your rival (in any confrontation). You are aware of Iran’s power in asymmetric war,” General Soleimani said, addressing a forum in the Western city of Hamedan.
He underlined that Trump’s recent remarks against Iran are not worth response by the Iranian president, and said, “I, as a soldier, respond to Trump. Mr. Trump! How do you dare to threaten us?”
General Soleimani said that the literature that Trump uses to speak with other countries is like the words uttered from the mouth of a person who runs a cabaret or a casino, calling on the US president to ask the country’s spy and security agencies about Washington’s failures against Iran.
“You did every thing you could against Iran in the past 20 years but victory belonged to the Iranian nation,” he underscored.
General Soleimani reminded Trump of the US failures in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen and the 33-day war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and said the US attacked the Taliban with 110 thousand troops but after nearly two decades it is now begging the Taliban for negotiations.
“Ask the ex-commander of your forces in Iraq who he sent to me to ask me to open a window of opportunity by using my influence to stop attacks by Iraqi resistance forces (Mujahedin) on the US soldiers so that they could withdraw from Iraq? Have you forgotten that you had provided adult-size diapers for your battle tank crews? What is your saga and what is the historical background that you rely on for threatening us?”
“You should know that there is not even a single night that we don’t think of destroying you,” he said.
He named Trump as a gambler, and said, “We are so close to you in places that you might not even think of. Come to us! We are waiting for you. You know that this war (against Iran) means destruction of all of your possibilities. You may start the war, but we decide when it should end.”
“Do not threaten us with killing. We are thirsty for martyrdom and annihilation of arrogant powers,” he said.
General Soleimani reminded Trump of the US awe and military power in the past, and said they have become so weak today that they have resorted to Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCRI) terrorist group to hit a blow to Iran.
“There was a time when the US enjoyed some awe, when its naval fleet started a voyage, a state would collapse, “but today you have pinned hope on the MKO that has been buried in the wasteland of the history. Have you really pinned hope on a wandering woman that you take from one TV channel to another? Is that all your power,” he asked.
His remarks came after Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri in a statement on Tuesday repeated President Hassan Rouhani’s warning to the US and cautioned Donald Trump to avoid threatening Iran or wait for consequences impossible to imagine.
“As correctly stated in the remarks of our honorable president, the enemies, specially the US, whose deployment centers and interests are accessed by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s overt and covert defense power should not play with lion’s tail otherwise they will be given a strong, unimaginable and regretting response at a very vast extent in the region and the world,” General Baqeri said.
He, meantime, stressed that history has shown that the Iranian nation has always loved peace and never started any war against other countries, and said, “Iran, as the superior power in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, has always guaranteed security of shipping in the vital waterway and the global economy and enjoys the power to make any move (it desires) in this region.”
General Baqeri said that the US president who is childishly preparing for new economic and oil sanctions against Iran should know that in case of implementing such policies, the interests of the US and its affiliates will come under target by the Islamic Revolution’s friends in any parts of the world.
“Thanks God, the Iranian Armed Forces are at the peaks of preparedness and assure (the nation) that they will kill in the bud any plots against the Iranian nation and will give an unforgettable lesson to the enemies,” he concluded.
Trump and Rouhani traded hostile warnings last week, amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Trump tweeted that Iran “will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” if it threatened the US.
President Rouhani earlier warned his US counterpart against the unbearable costs and dire consequences of blocking Iran’s oil exports, saying belligerency against Iran would the “mother of wars”.
“The regional states are either afraid of the US or do not trust it. Anyone who understands politics a little bit would never say that he/she would prevent exports of Iran’s oil. We have many Straits. The Strait of Hormuz is just one of them,” President Rouhani said, addressing the Iranian ambassadors to foreign states in Tehran on Sunday, repeating his earlier tacit threat that Tehran would close off the Strait of Hormuz in response to any move by the US to zero its crude supplies.
He stressed that Iran has been the guarantor of security in the Strait of Hormuz all throughout the history, saying, “Mr. Trump! Do not twist the lion’s tail because you will regret. You are not able to provoke the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests.”
“The Americans should come to realize this point well that peace with Iran would be the mother of all peaces and war with Iran would be the mother of all wars. We do not quiver from threats and we have a deterrent power. Today our internal unity is more than before, threats make us more coherent and we will definitely beat the US,” Rouhani said, and added, “We would sustain costs, but will earn greater interests.”
President Rouhani underscored that the new conditions created after the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal is an opportunity for relations with the world, exports and home-made production, saying, “Today, talks with the US has no other meaning but surrendering and putting an end to the Iranian nation’s achievements. If we surrender to a liar bullying person like Trump, they will plunder Iran.”
