Basij Head Outlines U.S. Strategy for Continuing War on Iran
TEHRAN -- The United States is seeking to continue its confrontation with Iran through a strategy focused on creating social unrest, exploiting domestic grievances, widening regional divisions and mobilizing countries against Tehran instead of relying on direct military intervention, head of the Basij Organization Hojjatoleslam Hussein Taeb said Saturday.
Taeb said the United States has lost the initiative after failing to achieve its objectives during the recent war and is now attempting to change conditions through other methods.
“Today, the American president has resorted to rhetoric,” Taeb said at the fourth national ceremony honoring mosque activists, held at the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom.
“These statements are not based on initiative, but on desperation. The enemy has lost its initiative and is trying to change conditions through other methods.”
He said Washington’s current efforts are aimed at shifting the focus of the war, generating social discontent and turning social issues into security issues.
“Today, all the efforts of the Americans are to push the war into the background, create social dissatisfaction, link social issues to security issues and create preoccupation inside the country,” Taeb said.
He added that the United States is also seeking to create tensions around Iran by driving wedges between Tehran and its neighbors and forming regional arrangements that could be used against the Islamic Republic.
“The enemy is also trying to create preoccupation in the region, create differences between Iran and its neighbors, and by creating regional links, put the countries of the region and the world against Iran, so that instead of the direct presence of America in the war, regional coalitions and links are activated against the Islamic Republic,” he said.
Taeb said Washington has failed to create such a regional front against Iran, adding that the United States has recognized its miscalculation.
“Today, America has realized its miscalculation and has failed to unite the region against Iran,” he said.
Iran’s relations with neighboring countries have changed following the war, although interaction and competition continues, he added.
Taeb also pointed to developments in Europe, saying European countries continue to appear aligned with Washington because of fear but have become increasingly aware of their weakened position.
“Europeans have realized that they have been humiliated by America,” he said, adding that the weakening of Europe’s position is also apparent in the Trump administration’s national security document.
“Today, the global map of power is changing,” Taeb said. “It is not the case that America is the axis of the world and the Zionist regime is the axis of the region; both are in one of their weakest conditions.”
He also cited economic difficulties in the United States and Israel as factors contributing to the weakening of the front of hegemony.
Taeb said the recent war demonstrated that attempts to strike Iran’s leadership, military commanders and popular resistance bases have failed to produce the expected political outcome.
He said the enemy believed that targeting the Leader and military commanders would resolve the issue and lead to regime change, but failed to understand the depth of the social and religious foundations of Iran’s resistance.
“The enemy thought that if it targeted the Leader of the Revolution and killed the commanders, the issue would be resolved and overthrow would take place,” Taeb said.
He said the enemy has instead underestimated the role of mosques and popular mobilization, stating that the targeting of Iran’s leadership has strengthened rather than weakened popular participation.
Taeb said the enemy initially sought to weaken mosques as centers of popular mobilization but that the opposite has occurred.
“With the martyrdom of the martyred Leader, the mosques were not weakened; rather, the nation came into the field, filled the mosques and connected the squares to the mosques,” he said.
He described the resulting structure as involving both resistance in the mosque and resistance in the field, with popular participation becoming more visible.
Taeb said the enemy launched intense attacks during the war, bringing up to 200 aircraft a day for bombing operations and using B-1 and B-52 aircraft as well as missiles launched from the sea.
“They brought B-1 and B-52 aircraft into the field and fired missiles from the sea, but when they saw that this nation would stand and resist, they moved toward requesting a ceasefire,” he said.
Taeb stressed that Iran had not requested the ceasefire. “We did not request a ceasefire; they moved toward a ceasefire,” he said.