Iran commander: Sanctions will fail

A senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander dismisses US-led efforts to slap sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment program.

“Imposing sanctions on the IRGC is rather ridiculous because they could not reach their goal [in the past] even by imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic,” the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) quoted Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, the director of the Political Bureau of the IRGC, as saying on Saturday.

“Sanctions on the IRGC will bear no result,” he said, dismissing as the allegations against the Guards as ‘unfounded’.

The commander also rejected criticism against the IRGC’s economic activities and said, “Today the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is proud to have achieved great capabilities, so that we can easily replace big foreign companies like Total and Shell in taking over major projects at (the southern Iranian port city of) Assaluyeh.”

General Javani also downplayed threats against Iran and said the IRGC would enhance its capabilities to counter all threats and defend the Islamic Revolution.

The United States and its European allies are pushing for a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran and are escalating their pressure on the country to halt its nuclear activity over what they describe as an effort by Tehran to produce nuclear weapons.

Tehran has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations, saying its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful civilian applications such as the production of electricity and nuclear medicine.