ISLAMABAD – Earlier, amid the ongoing, months-long standoff between Iranand the United States in the Persian Gulf region, Revolutionary Guard CorpsNavy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said that any foreign navythat dares to breach Iran’s sea border would face a “bitter fate.”
Tehran’s “enemy” will not dare “shoot even one blank” in Iran’s direction,Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami hassaidlink,speaking at a ceremony in Arak, central Iran on Thursday commemorating theIran-Iraq War of 1980-1988.
The firebrand commander, known for his harsh rhetoriclink,did not specify which “enemy” he was referring to, but arguedlinkthatsince the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has been at war not for eightyears, but for its entire 40 year history.
Today, Salami said, the “plots” against Iran have “become more complex”than ever, with “our country’s culture, economy, spirituality, security,science and industry” all “targets of widespread attacks.” The string ofassassinations targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists was but one example, hesaid.
According to Salami, Iran’s “children of the revolution” were “invincibleon the sea, in the air and on the ground,” with the commander stressingthat “today, the IRGC has taken giant steps in defensive and technologicalfields.”
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After enjoying a brief thaw in relations after the signing of the 2015Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal, tensions between Iran andthe US began escalating in May 2018, when the Trump administrationunilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal and began hitting Iran with aseries of banking and energy sanctions, and threatening countries doingbusiness with Tehran with secondary sanctions. In May 2019, Washingtonannulled sanctions waivers for over half a dozen major importers of Iranianoil, while Tehran announced that it would begin withdrawing from itsobligation under the JCPOA until its remaining signatories could abide bytheir commitments.
Also in May, Washington sent a carrier strike group to the Middle East,citing an unspecified Iranian ‘threat’ to US interests in the region. Sincethen, the Persian Gulf region has faced a string of dangerous incidents,including tanker sabotage attacks, ship seizures and drone shootdowns, withIran and the US blaming one another for the escalations and threateningeach other with destruction.
