TEHRAN -- The spokesman of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran’s recent show of force compelled Zionist leaders to halt their empty military threats against the country.
In an interview with Al-Alam television, Ramezan Sharif referred to the IRGC’s latest large-scale military exercises, saying the Zionists issued lots of threats against the Islamic Republic only before the drills.
The IRGC held massive military exercises, dubbed Great Prophet 17, in Iran’s southern coast last month. During the five-day maneuvers, Iran’s senior commanders sternly warned the occupying regime of Israel against continuing its anti-Iran rhetoric.
Before the drills, Israeli officials had ratcheted up threats against Iran, especially over the ongoing negotiations in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which the Zionist regime staunchly opposes.
They suggested that the occupying regime would attack Iran, with war minister Benny Gantz telling American officials that he had directed the regime’s military to prepare for the possibility of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
General Sharif dismissed the remarks as empty rhetoric, echoing Israeli military assessments that the regime lacks the power to launch large-scale attacks against Iran.
“After the exercise, the Zionists’ prime minister officially ordered their military figures not to talk about Iran at all,” Sharif said.
He stated that the Zionists are clearly interested in taking destructive action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but the Islamic Republic’s deterrent power and the location of its nuclear facilities prevent the occupying regime from taking such measures.
“Regardless of whether they act or not, our assessment is that the threats are mere rhetoric intended for political gains, especially to overcome their problems in the occupied lands,” the general added.
He said if the Zionists felt that they were not dealt with decisively, they would conduct major attacks against the intended country, especially with regard to nuclear issues.
Pointing to the occupying regime’s attacks on the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear facilities, Sharif said the Zionists’ main manifesto is that no Muslim or Arab country has the right to have a nuclear program.