Supreme Leader’s Military Aide: Iran Fully Ready for Defense, But Will Never Initiate War
Top military Aide to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi underlined that the Iranian Armed Forces enjoy full operational readiness, but they will never initiate a war in the region.
“The Iranian armed forces are constantly monitoring the US military moves in the region and we know the strengths and weaknesses of the American forces,” Major General Safavi said in a live TV program on Friday night.
He reieterated that the Iranian Armed Forces enjoy “operational readiness”, and said, “Americans know that Iran has a strong Leader who has once firmly ordered launching missiles against US’ Ain Asad airbase in Iraq.”
“We will never initiate a war but if an enemy attacks Iran or Iran’s interests, it will receive a very strong response,” Major General Safavi underlined.
“I believe Americans are worried that we might carry out operations on the eve of the first anniversary of the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and also the 40th day of the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh,” he said, pointing out that Americans now have a defensive guard.
Pointing to the military capabilities of Iran, Safavi said the country is “able to turn American aircraft carriers into submarines in few hours”.
In relevant remarks on Friday, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said Iran is fully ready to take revenge from the assassins of General Soleimani, stressing that the very thought of revenge has caused a constant nightmare for the Americans.
“We are ready to confront any US move against Iran in the region.” Salami said on the sidelines of the 1st anniversary of the martyrdom of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, adding, “We are prepared to avenge the blood of the martyrs and liberate Muslims forever from the political, economic and cultural hegemony of the US.”
“We assure our people that we will take revenge from the perpetrators of the terror attack on Martyr Lieutenant General Soleimani and his companions very harshly,” he went on to say.
“The path of harsh revenge is the path of collapse of the Zionist regime and the United States in the region and also expulsion of US terrorist forces from the region,” the IRGC commander noted.
In relevant remarks on Thursday, Iranian Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said that the Americans and Zionists rest assured that Iran is serious about revenge for the assassination of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and they continue to live under the shadow of Iran’s reprisal since they don’t know when and where they come under attack.
“Fear of revenge will not leave alone the Americans, Zionists, and those that had accompanied them (in assassinating General Soleimani),” General Mousavi said on Thursday.
“They are aware that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Leader are serious and will fulfill their promise,” he added.
There are no individuals in America or in the Zionist regime whose blood would be equal to the blood of martyr Soleimani, General Mousavi said.
He stressed that the revenge for General Soleimani’s martyrdom is expulsion of American forces from the region, adding, “They should know that the era of domination is over and this is part of the revenge that we are talking about.”
Lieutenant General Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike on Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
The airstrike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.
Five Iranian and five Iraqi military men were martyred by the missiles fired by the US drone at Baghdad International Airport.
On January 8 and after the funeral ceremony of General Soleimani, the IRGC Aerospace Force started heavy ballistic missile attacks on US Ein Al-Assad airbase in Southwestern Iraq near the border with Syria and a US operated airbase in Erbil in retaliation for the US assassination of General Soleimani.
Ein Al-Assad is an airbase with a 4km runway at 188m altitude from sea levels, which is the main and the largest US airbase in Iraq. Early reports said the radar systems and missile defense shields in Ein Al-Assad failed to operate and intercept the Iranian missiles. Unofficial reports said the US army’s central radar systems at Ein Al-Assad had been jammed by electronic warfare.
The second IRGC reprisal attack targeted a US military base near Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the second leg of “Martyr Soleimani” reprisal operation.
Iraq said the attacks had not taken any toll from its army men stationed at these two bases. The US army had blocked entrance into Ein Al-Assad to everyone, including the Iraqi army.
The IRGC officials said none of the missiles had been intercepted.
Meantime, Iran announced in late June that it had issued arrest warrants for 36 officials of the US and other countries who have been involved in the assassination of the martyred General Soleimani.
“36 individuals who have been involved or ordered the assassination of Hajj Qassem, including the political and military officials of the US and other governments, have been identified and arrest warrants have been issued for them by the judiciary officials and red alerts have also been issued for them via the Interpol,” Alqasi Mehr said at the time.
He said that the prosecuted individuals are accused of murder and terrorist action, adding that US President Donald Trump stands at the top of the list and will be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends.
