The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that he would “welcome war” with the United States, The Times of Israel reported today.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in an interview on state-run television that a battle with the US would only serve to highlight Iran’s strengths.
“We welcome war with the US as we do believe that it will be the scene for our success to display the real potentials of our power,” he said, according to a report by the semi-official Fars news agency. “We have prepared ourselves for the most dangerous scenarios and this is no big deal.”
Salami also threatened that pilots’ “first flight [to attack Iran] will be their last one.”
The commander of the IRGC, Gen. Ali Jafari, made similarly belligerent remarks.
“The military option that the Westerners speak of constantly is ridiculous and they know that if the military option could have produced any result, they would have already used it many times, and today they have shifted their focus to other types of threats and to the soft war front.”
“Today, the Islamic Iran’s pride and might has made the world’s biggest materialistic and military powers kneel down before the Islamic Republic.”
Despite next week’s scheduled talks over Iran’s nuclear program, much of Iran’s leadership has been increasingly belligerent toward the United States.
There is speculation that the recent threats directed towards the United States are in response to comments made by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities could be limited and not lead to a wider conflict.
Both generals have a history of making threats. Salami has warned that attacking the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would unleash the “spirit of jihad,” and in January of this year threatened to attack Israel, saying that “the Zionists should prepare themselves for our shattering thunderbolt. They have experienced our rage in the past.”
Similarly, Jafari in the past few months has predicted the collapse of Saudi Arabia and threatened to form a military front on the West Bank to attack Israel.
[Photo: ali javid / YouTube ]