Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan responds to US-Israel defense talks with vow to inflict an ‘unforgettable lesson’
Iran’s defense minister warned Saturday that his country would deliver an “unforgettable lesson” to the US and Israel in the event the country is attacked.
Speaking after a meeting between Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in which the two discussed joint efforts to oppose Tehran’s role in various conflicts in the region, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan issued a vehement denunciation of the two allies.
Dehghan “said the Iranian Armed Forces are fully prepared to give such a crushing response to any possible hostile move by the US or Israel that they could never forget,” the official Fars News Agency announced.
At a Wednesday press conference in Washington, Carter said the nuclear deal completed in July between Iran and six world powers removes Iran’s nuclear threat, calling it “just one source of uncertainty and risk.” He added that Iran must comply with the deal or face a military threat from the United States, the US Defense Department’s Defense News reported.
Dehghan, who serves in the government of President Hassan Rouhani, seen by many in the West as a moderate, mocked Ya’alon and Carter, saying, “These two gentlemen had better start writing their memoirs now as they will not have the opportunity to do so in future.”
Iran “increases its defensive power based on its defense doctrine, given its defensive needs that arise as a result of the threats that are posed to it and to support the resistance stream in all fields,” Fars quoted Dehghan as saying, in a reference to Iran’s regional involvement, including support for Syria’s Bashar Assad, Yemen’s Houthi separatists and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
“And our Armed Forces are always ready to give a response to the US administration and the Zionist regime’s mischiefs,” Dehghan continued.
He railed against the US and Israel, saying, “Nations see these two regimes as warmongering, aggressive, bloodthirsty and anti-human rights regimes [sic] and they, therefore, do not need to try to prove this everyday.”
“[Dehghan] underscored that even small states that are not well equipped, including Somalia, Lebanon and Palestine, have forced the US and Israel to experience defeat, failure and humiliation,” Fars said. “Hence when it comes to the powerful Iranian nation with its old civilization, the country will be ready to ‘give an unforgettable lesson to the aggressors.’”
The state-run news service noted a May statement from the Iranian military’s general staff that purportedly “underlined intelligence superiority over enemies’ moves in the region, and warned that any hostile act against the country would face a crushing response.
“Using the invaluable experiences of the 8-year Iraqi-imposed war against Iran (1980-1988) and the commandership of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian Armed Forces ‘will give a proper and crushing response to any threat, given their intelligence superiority over the enemy front’s situation and moves,’ the statement said.”
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