IRGC deputy chief: Missiles Iran’s main defensive asset

Deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has described missiles as Iran’s “main defensive asset” and therefore indispensable to its military might.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami’s remarks came on the sidelines of a gathering at the Supreme National Defense University in Tehran Monday amid a US-led push to contain Iran’s missile capability.

“Missiles are among the defensive assets and main deterrent elements of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we can never accept to disarm ourselves of our deterrent capability,” Salami said.

The commander also touched on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks during his Sunday visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel where he accused Iran of destabilizing the Middle East.

“Today, it is the Islamic Republic of Iran which is putting an end to terrorism in the region, but the United States wants to create an element of threat out of Iran for Arab countries in order to manufacture a philosophy for its presence in the region,” he said.

According to the commander, US strategy in West Asia and the Persian Gulf region is to create “a security riddle and a balance of power.”

“The United States, in order to maintain its dominance over Arab governments and to create a permanent need for its presence in the Persian Gulf littoral states and West Asia, is manufacturing this security riddle,” Salami said.

“Under this formula, the Americans consider the Islamic Republic of Iran as a threat and falsely present Iran as a sponsor of terrorists. This is while the entire world knows that Iran today is on the front line of fighting terrorism,” Salami added.

He pointed out that Iran helped end Daesh’s reign in the region with “prudence and reflection” and supported Syria and Iraq to defeat the terrorist outfit.

Salami said Iran’s actions are within the framework of international rules and regulations, adding the country has never threatened any country and has always respected the territorial integrity of other nations instead.