‘Do not pin your faith in THAAD’: IRGC chief warns Israel

The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned the Israeli regime not to place its confidence in the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery for repelling reprisal attacks from the resistance front.

Earlier this month, in its latest round of military assistance to the occupying regime, the United States sent its THAAD anti-missile defense system to Israel along with scores of soldiers and crew to operate it.

US President Joe Biden said the deployment was meant “to defend Israel,” and bolster the regime’s air defenses after heavy missile attacks by Iran and regional resistance groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

“Do not trust THAAD’s pipes; these are limited and you are relying on limited power. Shoot as much as you wish, your enemies will shoot many times more than you. You cannot win in this and we will defeat you,” Major General Hossein Salami said at a ceremony in commemoration of martyrs of the 1980s Iraqi imposed war in the western province of Kermanshah.

“A small land that 98% of its economy relies on the sea should be more mindful. Unwise decisions can lead to the downfall of a regime with an astounding acceleration. By the grace of God, we are standing up to this evil squad.”

Salami censured the US for its untrammeled support of Israel in its long genocidal war against the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

“The Americans are also mistaken that tied their political dignity to [Israel’s] crime and made themselves despicable and isolated among nations in the world,” he said.

“Today, the world knows the US through the bombs that fall on the children of Gaza and Lebanon. Little is left of all the glory of America’s superpower on earth and it will also not last.”

Made by US aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin, THAAD is an advanced anti-missile defense system that uses a combination of radar and interceptors to thwart short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, with its missiles ranging from 150 to 200 kilometers.

On October 1, Iran responded to the Israeli assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and senior IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan by launching as many as 200 ballistic missiles toward the occupying regime’s military and intelligence bases all over the occupied Palestinian territories.

Dubbed Operation True Promise II, the retaliatory strike dealt a severe blow to the illegal regime all the more ruinous than its prequel in April, with Tel Aviv having so far declined to reveal the extent of loss it suffered despite vowing to respond on several occasions.

While the Israeli regime has threatened to retaliate, Iranian officials have warned that Tehran is ready to respond to any adventurism.