The top commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says his country is fully prepared to respond to any pressure from the US
TEHRAN, Iran – The top commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Friday that his country was fully prepared to respond to any US military pressure amid increased tensions between Tehran and Washington in the last days of the president’s government. Donald Trump.
General Hossein Salami spoke at a ceremony at the University of Tehran in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. drone attack in Baghdad that killed revolutionary guard general Qassem Soleimani, who headed the Quds expeditionary force, on January 3, 2020 .
“Today, we have no problem, worry or fear in finding any powers. We will give our final words to our enemies on the battlefield, ”said Salami, without mentioning the United States directly. Several senior Iranian officials, along with members of the Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements and Soleimani’s family, were present.
Soleimani’s replacement, Brig. General Esmail Ghaani said at the ceremony that Iran was not afraid to confront “powers”, again without naming the US
Iran’s chief justice, Ebrahim Raisi, said that all those who played a role in Soleimani’s murder would not be able to “escape from law and justice” even if they were a US president.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that Washington would be responsible for the consequences of any possible “adventure” in the region. His comments were made during a call with his Kuwaiti counterpart and reported on the website of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The United States has already flown over B-52 bombers and sent a nuclear submarine to the Persian Gulf about what Trump administration officials describe as the possibility of an Iranian attack on the anniversary of Soleimani’s death last year. At the time, Iran retaliated by launching a ballistic missile attack on a military base in Iraq that caused brain injuries to about 100 American soldiers.
The strategic calculations on both sides were complicated by the political transition in Washington to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden, who can look for new ways to deal with Iran.