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Top Commander: No Chance for Tehran-Washington Cooperation

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Top Commander: No Chance for Tehran-Washington Cooperation

TEHRAN (FNA)- Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Hassan Firouzabadi rejected western media speculations about Tehran’s likely cooperation with the US over Iraq, and also stressed that Iran has not deployed troops in Iraq.

“There is no need to the presence of Iranian forces in Iraq,” General Firouzabadi told reporters on Wednesday, and added, “Cooperation between Iran and the US will never take place and is meaningless.”

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Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Hassan Firouzabadi

He pointed to the capture of Iraq’s Nineveh province by the ISIL as the result of a premeditated and coordinated plan, and said, “Such works do not mean brave military operations.”

General Firouzabadi further blamed former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for having prepared the grounds for the presence of ISIL in the region by collecting cash from the regional countries, and said, “They prepared the grounds for Takfiris to gather naive Muslim youth with Jihadi motivations under the command of Baathists who had defected Iraq’s army.”

And these criminals (Takfiris), who do not have the power to fight in a war, have recruited the youth aged between 18 to 20 years, he added.

“The ISIL is a move by Israel and the US to create a safe margin for the Zionists against the resistance forces in the region and their recent attempt was a reaction to the recent victories of President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria and the (Syrian) people’s massive turnout in that country’s presidential election as well as victories … in Iraq,” General Firouzabadi said.

Yet, he said the ISIL’s attack has backfired as its uncalculated and angry move has resulted in the unity of religious leaders in Iraq.

Firouzabadi had also on Tuesday voiced opposition to any military meddling in Iraq, and warned that the US is attempting to pave the ground for its armed intervention in a bid to destroy the democratic trend in the country.

Firouzabadi underlined that the US which created terrorist groups during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as state secretary is displeased with the results of the recent elections in Iraq and is cancel election results.

“By any meddling and military intervention in Iraq, the Americans are seeking to attain ungracious goals, at the top of which undermining the elections in Iraq, and the crocodile tears of the Americans should not receive any attention, as they are still the allies of the sponsors and supporters of terrorists in the region,” Firouzabadi said.

He said that Iraq’s Muslim and revolutionary people and army can further strengthen their country using the current conditions.

General Firouzabadi said that Israel has created and supported the ISIL to ward off danger from its borders.

Firouzabadi made the remarks in Tehran and in reaction to the recent crimes committed by the ISIL in Iraq and its attacks in Syria since the start of the crisis in the Arab country in 2011.

“The ISIL is Israel’s cover up for distancing the revolutionary forces from Israeli borders and creating a margin of security for the Zionists, and the Zionist media have also admitted this fact,” he added.

Firouzabadi emphasized the necessity for the Iraqi people’s unity and resistance, and said, “The only way for the Iraqi people to overcome this problem is unity, resistance and suppression of these modern-day ignorance (darkness) fighters.”

Clashes between the ISIL and the Iraqi army continue after the former made gains in Nineveh and Tikrit following the capture of Iraq’s second biggest city Mosul.

Reports on Sunday said that the Iraqi army has taken back parts of Mosul as well.

More than 350 ISIL terrorists were killed in airstrikes in the Western province of al-Anbar, the Iraqi army’s regional operations command said.

Warplanes attacked the militants of the ISIL as they appeared to be parading near Fallujah, a city that has been under the control of the terrorists since January.

One of the ISIL leaders, identified as Yasser Nayi, was among those killed in the airstrike, the army said.

 

 

 

 

Basij Commander Blames US for Volatile Situation in Iraq

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Basij Commander Blames US for Volatile Situation in Iraq

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Iran’s Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi said the recent attacks by the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq are a new US plot to create discord among the Iraqi people.

“The scene they have created in Iraq is the result of the United States’ behind-the-scene attempts to sow discord and they are certainly the main mastermind of these events,” Naqdi said in the Northern city of Ramsar on Wednesday.

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Commander of Iran’s Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi

He said that the US and its allies attach so much importance to Iraq’s oil resources that they would do anything within their capacity to protect it.

In relevant remarks last Wednesday, Naqdi condemned the crimes committed by the terrorist Takfiri and Salafi groups in the region, and said these crimes are supported by the western states and certain oil-rich Arab countries.

“These (Takfiri) streams that introduce Shiites as infidels, issue decree for their killing, commit crimes and massacre innocent people under the pretext of (obeying) Islam and differences (between Shiite and Sunni Islam) in their fatwas (religious decrees) say nothing but lies,” Naqdi said in the Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan.

He said that the Takfiri groups commit crimes in line with the ominous goals of the arrogant powers and obey the western and Israeli think tanks as they are supported by certain regional Arab countries’ petrodollars.

Also on Monday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani in a meeting with Prime Minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Nechirvan Barzani took the western and regional states responsible for the current crisis in Iraq.

“The current crisis in Iraq is the result of the meddling and collaboration of the western and regional enemies of the Iraqi nation, who are seeking to prevent the Iraqi people’s will and determination from coming into action,” Shamkhani said during the meeting in Tehran.

He called on Iraqi Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis to become united and defend their country to restore peace, tranquility and security to their country and ward off the danger of terrorism and its spread to the region.

Barzani, for his part, elaborated on the situation in Iraq after the start of the ongoing bloodshed by the terrorists of the ISIL, and said the Iraqi Kurdistan region will use all its capacities to maintain Iraq’s integrity and solidarity and won’t allow inhumane actions of the terrorists to affect the country’s unity and solidarity.

 

 

Iran’s Leader appoints new members for Strategic Council on Foreign Relations

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Iran’s Leader appoints new members for Strategic Council on Foreign Relations

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed five new members for the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations.

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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

According to trend, Former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, former ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, Ebrahim Sheibani and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Ahmad Vahidi who was the minister of defense from 2009 to 2013 are among the new members of the council, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported on June 17.

Other new members Hossein Taremi(former ambassador to China and Saudi Arabia) and Mehdi Mostafavi Ahari(former ambassador to West Germany) are not as well known.

The Strategic Council for Foreign Relations was created by a June 25, 2006 decree from Khamenei. The council is supposed to facilitate the country’s decision-making process, find new foreign policy approaches, and make use of foreign policy experts.

Kamal Kharrazi, who served as foreign minister from 1997-2005, heads the council. Ali Akbar Velayati, who preceded Kharrazi as foreign minister and who currently serves as Khamenei’s foreign affairs adviser, and former IRGC admiral Ali Shamkhani, who served as defense minister from 1997-2005 are also members of the council.

Commander: Pin-Point Precision Capability of IRGC Artillery Determine Combat Strategy in Battlefields

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Commander: Pin-Point Precision Capability of IRGC Artillery Determine Combat Strategy in Battlefields

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour underlined IRGC’s progress in building state-of-the-art weapons and equipment, and said the artilleries used by the IRGC enjoy the highest level of precision targeting possible.

“At present, strategies are centered on using one bomb or missile for one target and today we are witnessing that our artilleries enjoy pin-point precision targeting capability with the help of laser-guided Krasnopol rounds,” Pakpour said, addressing a forum on the superior ammunitions of the Ground Force in Tehran on Wednesday.

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Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour

He stressed that Iran is now moving towards the doctrine of one artillery round, bomb or missile for one target, adding that such a capability will both strengthen the Iranian forces’ morale and weaken the enemies’ will.

In relevant remarks in April, Commander of the Iranian Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced that the country’s engineers are building a new type of advanced artillery system which will be unveiled in the near future.

Addressing a ceremony to unveil 5 new achievements of the Ground Force in Tehran, Pourdastan said that the Iranian experts have started building an artillery system with special features.

He said that the system will be unveiled soon in future.

Elsewhere, Pourdastan laid emphasis on increasing the weapons and equipment capability and efficiency as among the main objectives of the Ground Force, and said, “We seek to decrease the forces’ density in every square kilometer to reduce the casualties and increase the costs for the enemy.”

He also described boosting the speed, preciseness and fire power of weapons and equipment’s flexibility and mobility as among other objectives of the Ground Force.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country’s military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

 

 

Commander: Iran Plans to Build New Anti-Armor Missiles

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Commander: Iran Plans to Build New Anti-Armor Missiles

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Deputy Defense Minister and Head of Iran’s Aerospace Organization General Mehdi Farahi underscored the country’s progress in building different types of missiles, and announced plans to manufacture new anti-armor missiles.

“We have hundreds of projects each year to enhance the level of our (military) products,” Farahi said, addressing a forum on the superior ammunitions of the Ground Force in Tehran on Wednesday.

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Iranian Deputy Defense Minister and Head of Iran’s Aerospace Organization General Mehdi Farahi

He referred to Iran’s capability in building anti-armor missiles, and said, “We have manufactured Toufan (Hurricane) missiles in seven generations, from Toufan 1 to Toufan 7, using the same base and platform of TOW missiles and this trend continues.”

Farahi said that Iran has plans to build more advanced anti-armor missiles, and plans to continue upgrading the Toufan projects up to Toufan 11.

Meantime, he said the country is now in possession of other missiles, including Saeqeh, Tondar, Tousan, Dehlaviyeh, etc. which can be fired from helicopters, tanks and other platforms.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country’s military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

In relevant remarks in April, Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said that Iran’s Ground Force has test-fired new mid-range ballistic missiles.

“A series of new missiles have been designed to be built by the Army’s Ground Force,” Pourdastan told FNA.

“The laboratory production of these missiles has started and one or two samples have been test-fired,” he added.

Pourdastan said that the new missiles have higher range and quality compared with Naze’at-10 medium-range ballistic missiles.

Noting that the Ground Force is building the missiles in cooperation with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Aerospace Force, he said that the new missiles will be unveiled and used in the form of a new class of missiles.

 

 

Commander: US Attempting to Disturb Security to Undermine Islamic Revolution’s Influence

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Commander: US Attempting to Disturb Security to Undermine Islamic Revolution’s Influence

TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy General Alireza Tangsiri warned that the US and other enemies of Iran who have failed in their plots against the country are now trying to disturb security in the region to push back the Islamic Revolution.

“Today, our enemies led by the US have resorted to seeking excuses, fabricating deceitful and unreal images and undermining security to confront the influence of the Islamic Revolution,” Tangsiri said in Tehran on Tuesday.

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Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy General Alireza Tangsiri

He underlined the necessity for maintaining unity and increasing knowledge and wisdom against enemies’ plots which he said emerge in a new shape and form each day.

Many Iranian officials and military commanders have blamed the US and its regional allies for the recent insecurities in the countries neighboring Iran, specially in Iraq.

Last week, Commander of Iran’s Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi condemned the crimes committed by the terrorist Takfiri and Salafi groups in the region, and said these crimes are supported by the western states and certain oil-rich Arab countries.

“These (Takfiri) streams that introduce Shiites as infidels, issue decree for their killing, commit crimes and massacre innocent people under the pretext of (obeying) Islam and differences (between Shiite and Sunni Islam) in their fatwas (religious decrees) say nothing but lies,” Naqdi said in the Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan on Wednesday.

He said that the Takfiri groups commit crimes in line with the ominous goals of the arrogant powers and obey the western and Israeli think tanks as they are supported by certain regional Arab countries’ petrodollars.

On June 10, the ISIL militants took control of Nineveh province, including its provincial capital Mosul, in a lightning advance, forcing “over 500,000 people in and around the city” to flee, according to Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The militants have vowed to continue their raid towards the capital Baghdad.

Nearly 1.5 million Iraqi citizens have volunteered to join the country’s armed forces to confront foreign-sponsored ISIL terrorists in their bid to destabilize and take over parts of the nation.

Iraqi authorities stated on Friday that people were rushing to recruitment centers to sign up for the fight against the Takfiri insurgents.

The volunteers consist of people from all ages and even include retired officers.

The development came after senior religious and political leaders called on the Iraqi nation to take up arms and defend their country against militants.

 

 

Iran IRGC’s First ‘Martyr’ Versus ISIL?

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Iran IRGC’s First ‘Martyr’ Versus ISIL?

Radio Free Europe: Several hard-line Iranian websites and blogs are reporting that Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has lost one of its members as the result of the fighting in Iraq.

The reports claim IRGC member Alireza Moshajari thus became the first Iranian “martyr” in the fight against the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Other conservative sites, however, have reported that Moshajari was killed in an accident in Iran while on duty. It wasn’t clear from the reports whether he had been on a mission inside of Iran or returning from a mission from abroad.

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One of the photos that the Ghasam.ir website was publishing, purportedly of the coffin of IRGC member Alireza Moshajari from his funeral in Tehran on June 16

According to the reports, Moshajari was killed on June 14. His funeral was held in Tehran on June 16.

There has been no official Iranian reaction to the reports, which also suggested that Moshajari was among Iranians who had previously traveled to Syria to defend the Sayida Zeinab shrine on the outskirts of Damascus (here and here).

The hard-line Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, posted pictures of Moshajari’s funeral while saying that he was killed in “an accident” in Iran’s Western provinces while on “a mission.”

The report appears to have been removed.

A picture of Moshajari wearing his IRGC uniform has been widely shared on Google+, a preferred social media network of hard-liners, who have “congratulated” him over his “martyrdom” in Iraq.

A picture of Moshajari’s bloodied face was also making the rounds.

One user, who said he was a friend of Moshajari, wrote that he was killed after he returned from a mission in Iraq.

“My good friend martyr Alireza Moshajari is the first martyr of the defense of the Askari shrine” — a Shi’ite shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra — “he had also traveled a number of times to Syria to defend the shrine of Zeinab and Roghayeh,” Abbas Kolahduz wrote on Google+.

He added that through his “martyrdom,” Moshajari had joined “his master Imam Hussein,” the first imam of Shi’ites.

Another social-media user who identified herself as Moshajari’s neighbor described him as “the first martyr of the support for Iraqi Shi’ites against Takfiris,” according to a report by Shahidnews.com.

The website said the user, Hanieh Pourahmad, had written about Moshajari on the Iranian social network Cloob.com.

Pictures of Moshajari’s funeral, posted by an IRGC website, show dozens of people carrying a casket shrouded in the Iranian flag.

Nasimonline.ir, which also covered Moshajari’s funeral, was silent about the circumstances of his “martyrdom.”

Western media have reported that the IRGC has dispatched several of its units to help the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki battle the ISIL’s militants and halt their rapid advances.

Iranian officials have denied the reports while expressing readiness to help Iraq in its fight against ISIL.

 

Iranian Commander Sees ISIL as Israeli Cover-Up for Reinvigorating Security

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Iranian Commander Sees ISIL as Israeli Cover-Up for Reinvigorating Security

TEHRAN (FNA)- Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Hassan Firouzabadi said on Tuesday Israel has created and supported the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to ward off danger from its borders.

Firouzabadi made the remarks in Tehran on Tuesday and in reaction to the recent crimes committed by the ISIL in Iraq and its attacks in Syria since the start of the crisis in the Arab country in 2011.

“The ISIL is Israel’s cover up for distancing the revolutionary forces from Israeli borders and creating a margin of security for the Zionists, and the Zionist media have also admitted this fact,” he added.

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Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Hassan Firouzabadi

Firouzabadi emphasized the necessity for the Iraqi people’s unity and resistance, and said, “The only way for the Iraqi people to overcome this problem is unity, resistance and suppression of these modern-day ignorance (darkness) fighters.”

In relevant remarks this week, Commander of the Iranian Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan underlined the Iraqi Army’s might and the nation’s unity in foiling the plots and threats hatched by the enemies and their allies, including terrorists of the ISIL.

The Iranian commander expressed the hope that the experienced Iraqi army and united people would overcome the ISIL soon.

He further stressed that certain countries want Iraq to return to its previous situation.

General Pourdastan said that hegemonic powers are after taking control over rich resources of Iraq which enjoys an important geopolitical situation in the region too.

Clashes between the ISIL and the Iraqi army continue after the former made gains in Nineveh, Salahuddin and Tikrit following the capture of Iraq’s second biggest city Mosul.

 

 

 

 

Police Chief: Security in Sistan and Balouchestan Province Under Full Control

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Police Chief: Security in Sistan and Balouchestan Province Under Full Control

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam underlined on Monday that the security situation in the country’s Southeastern Sistan and Balouchestan province is under full control of police and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces.

“Security in the South of Sistan and Balouchestan province is under control with the help of the IRGC,” Ahmadi Moqaddam told reporters in a press conference in Zahedan, the capital city of Sistan and Balouchestan province, on Monday.

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Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam

The southern parts of the province were used by Jeish Al-Adl terrorist group to carry out operations and escape to neighboring Pakistan.

Ahmadi Moqaddam said that the security situation of Sistan and Balouchestan province is gradually improving as additional measures have been adopted to strengthen the border guards in this region.

“To strengthen security at borders, the first step is building roads, establishment of outposts, using electricity and optical fibers and erecting barriers to decrease different border-related crimes, including goods and fuel smuggling.

Iran intensified security measures in Sistan and Balouchestan province after Pakistan-based Jeish al-Adl terrorist group did a number of terrorist operations in the province in the last several months. The group is based in Pakistan and escapes to the country each time it conducts an operations in Iran.

To have a better monitoring and control over the borders, Iranian border guard forces have announced that they plan to make use of various technological tools and equipment to better fight such terrorist actions.

In March 2013, Commander of the Iranian Border Guards Units General Hossein Zolfaqari announced Iranian border guards have begun testing UAVs for patrolling the country’s Eastern borders.

“The implementation of this project has begun in South Khorasan and Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces, and multiple daily flights are conducted to evaluate the performance of the drones,” Zolfaqari said.

He added that upon the completion of the pilot project, Iranian border guards will use UAVs to patrol borders.

In April 2014, General Zolfaqari said that Iran plans to modernize its borders monitoring system.

“Border monitoring system will be deployed in border regions after the parliament allocates the needed budget,” General Zolfaqari told reporters on the sidelines of Eqtedar (Might) 3 border guards exercises in the Western province of Kermanshah.

He noted that border monitoring systems will help better control border conditions and movements, and “through the online observation of the borders, the border checkpoints will be notified in case of having a weakness (in their performance).”

General Zolfaqari also added that once the monitoring systems are stationed, electronic watch towers will be set up along the borders as well.

Earlier, Zolfaqari said that his forces had tested new weapons and reconnaissance balloons in their four-day-long exercises in the Western parts of the country.

“We have used the new weapons in different scenarios and in various time frames,” General Zolfaqari told reporters.

He pointed to using two reconnaissance balloons in the drills, and said, “The balloons took photos from the entire region in a bid to study all the movements in drill zone.”

He reiterated that all possible scenarios were considered and the weapons were used in different face-to-face combat situations during the drills.

 

 

Commander: Small or Big Enemies Make No Difference for IRGC’s Iron Fist

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Commander: Small or Big Enemies Make No Difference for IRGC’s Iron Fist

TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami stressed that the IRGC will firmly stand against any hostile force irrespective of its size and power.

“The IRGC has grown from a young institution into a powerful defensive structure and its influence and range of power has engulfed all enemies,” Salami said in the Northern province of Qazvin on Monday.

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Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami

“The IRGC has mobilized all its power to confront any small or big enemy,” he added.

Elsewhere, Salami underlined the power and capabilities of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, one of Iran’s allies in the region, and said today if the Zionist regime dares to make an aggression against Lebanon, it will face the Hezbollah youth’s crushing response and if the enemies make a move against Islam, Hezbollah enjoys the power to target any of their bases that it wants.

In relevant remarks late May, Salami underlined that Iran is so powerful that it can stand up to any kind of option that enemies may choose.

“Today the IRGC can act in the most successful form possible against any kind of enemy option,” Salami said in Tehran.

“We have gathered so much power that if the enemy makes use of its options all at once, it won’t gain anything but defeat, retreat (from its stances) and humiliation,” he said.

 

 

 

 

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