Supreme Leader’s Military Aide: Iran Superior Power in Region

Senior Military Aide to the Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi underlined Iran’s growing national power and might in different fields, and said the country is now among the superior powers of the region.
“Iran’s national might in political, security and economic fields has increased and today we have turned into the region’s superior power,” Rahim Safavi said in a televised interview on Friday night.

He further said that God willing Iran would turn into the top regional power in the near future.

In relevant remarks in December, General Safavi stressed Iran’s important and influential role in the region, and said no political, economic and security mechanisms can be formed in the region without Iran’s role and agreement.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is the axis and main pillar of regional security and development,” Safavi said.

Safavi also underlined that Iran is a powerful country with a political system based on religious democracy.

Late in May 2012, Safavi said, “Iran’s weight in political, economic and security discussions is determining.”

He pointed to Iran’s 2,000-kilometere-long coastal borderline in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and said the Persian Gulf is the source of 63% to 65% of the world energy resources and Iran’s role cannot be ignored in this area.

In relevant remarks in February, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi had also stressed Iran’s key role in the Persian Gulf region, and stated that the ongoing efforts to ignore Iran’s role in the sensitive region are futile.

Enemy’s efforts to ignore Iran’s role in the Persian Gulf is in “vain”, Vahidi said, addressing the first International Persian Gulf Oceanography Conference.

He reiterated that enemies cannot weaken Iran’s key role in regional and international policies.

These efforts are all useless since the Islamic Republic of Iran would not retreat from its benefits in the Persian Gulf, Vahidi said.