Iran’s IRGC commander vows revenge in message to Trump
Commander Salami says that the US is isolated and declining and that hundreds of Iranian missiles could target it if America strikes at Iran.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANU.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. February 4, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)
Maj.-Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, vowed revenge in a message addressed to US President Donald Trump. He referred to the US killing of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and mocked American press reports that Iran had targeted a US ambassador to South Africa.He indicated it would be unjust and dishonorable for Iran to target a “female ambassador.” It was unclear if that was meant to indicate Iran’s regime views women as inferior targets to a man like Soleimani or if Tehran would not target an ambassador because ambassadors are not the same rank as Soleimani.The IRGC leader discussed at length the greatness of Soleimani in his address. He talked about the need for the “path of Jihad” and how the Iranian nation is “glorious” and had grown to a high level since the 1979 Islamic revolution, according to Tasnim News. Most of this was just boilerplate propaganda.Salami had some pointed language in his discussion, however. He said that “today we have gone to the Mediterranean; we will continue to pursue our enemies.” This appeared to mean that Iran has bases in Lebanon and Syria and has a strong hand with its proxy Hezbollah. The US killed Soleimani in early January. Iran responded with ballistic missile fire on American bases in Iraq and has since then activated proxies there to carry out more attacks, killing several members of the US-led coalition in March.Salami slammed recent reports at Politico alleging that US intelligence had found evidence of Iran targeting the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “Our revenge on the martyrdom of our great commander is definite, serious and real, but we are honorable and take revenge fairly and justly; you think we are [targeting] a female ambassador to South Africa for the blood of our brother and martyr [Soleimani].”The commander claimed that Iran would target and defeat those directly or indirectly involved in the killing of Soleimani. He noted that Trump had threatened a “thousand-fold” attack in retaliation to any Iranian attacks. This is Salami’s direct response to comments from Trump reported on September 14.THE IRGC commander said that while the US was threatening this “thousand-times greater” attack, Iran had struck US forces at al-Asad Airbase in Iraq and that it could respond with “hundreds of missiles” in the future. “The enemy is under our control everywhere,” Salami said.“Our revolution has exhausted the United States,” he claimed. “Today, the US lacks political vibrancy and is incapable of evolving… all the concepts that America spoke to the world are broken.” He said the US had been broken by Iran and that America’s image was ruined. “Today the US share of world power is shrinking, because new powers are emerging and Islam has emerged as a power.”He said that the US decline was irreversible. This echoes statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, where he also said it was time for Russia and China to stop working by the West’s rules. In general, Iran, Turkey, Russia and China are seeking to challenge the US and undermine its role in places like Syria, as well as working toward a multi-polar world order.“The American center came to an end with the twentieth century,” said Salami, adding that Iran’s role “resisting” the US was important in this decline of American power. “The US is politically isolated today and does not even have its traditional allies.” He mocked the US defeat at the UN as Washington sought to keep an arms embargo on Iran, noting that only the Dominican Republic had stood with the US at the world body.He then said that the US is full of rioting today, noting that there was nothing left of America but “smoke and fire” and that it couldn’t even manage to stop COVID-19. “Moral degeneration pervades the life of the American leader,” he said, referring to Trump.Tasnim News also seeks to highlight opposition in the UAE to the recent deal with Israel. Fars News has also highlighted protests in Bahrain against Israel. Fars News also praises the role of the pro-Iranian Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in Iraq in defeating ISIS.
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