Iran army warns against ‘any strategic mistake’ by enemies

Chief Commander of Iran’s Army Major General Ataollah Salehi has warned that “any strategic mistake by the enemy” against the Islamic Republic will be met with a “decisive, severe and destructive” response.

“Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army … has full readiness … to decisively counter any adventurism against the Islamic Republic by the ill-wishers,” Salehi said in a message on Sunday ahead of the National Army Day.

The army, he said, “continues its glorious path of boosting its defensive power and deterrence” based on the experiences of the Iraqi war against Iran in the 1980s and the teachings of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who is the commander-in-chief of the Iranian armed forces.

Iran has recently made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and hardware.

The Islamic Republic says its military power poses no threat to other countries and is merely based on the doctrine of deterrence.

Security in Iran  

Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari on Sunday hailed “enduring security” in Iran despite violence which wracks its neighbors, saying it is owed to the efforts of the country’s “powerful armed forces.”

Sayyari lauded the Iranian navy’s role in guaranteeing security in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Iran’s armed forces are also present along the Makran coastal strip on the Sea of Oman in a way that leaves “no foreign vessels hidden from the eyes of our naval bases,” he said.

“Despite insecurity in our neighborhood, we are witnessing enduing security in our country which is benefiting from powerful and ready armed forces,” Sayyari added.

The naval forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) are tasked with guaranteeing security in the Persian Gulf, where they have been involved in a series of face-offs with US vessels for intrusion into Iranian territorial waters.