PREEMPTION POWER
Defense Chief: Iran Will Be Far More Powerful in Any New War
TEHRAN — Iran would confront any new war from a significantly more powerful and technologically advanced position than in previous conflicts, the acting defense minister said on Sunday, as he dismissed repeated U.S. threats as political messages lacking real military capability.
“I say with very high confidence that if another war breaks out today, the Islamic Republic of Iran will act from a much more powerful and advanced technological position than in previous wars,” Brig. Gen. Majid Ebn-e-Reza said.
Speaking to managers of the Defense Ministry’s industrial organizations, Ebn-e-Reza said those who
seek to portray Iran’s continuing technological activities and defense production as merely a media narrative have already seen the capabilities of the country’s armed forces on the battlefield.
“What is sometimes displayed is only a small part of the real capabilities and existing capacities of the country’s defense industry,” he said, adding that the development of Iran’s defense and technological capabilities is continuing with strength.
He said Iran’s defense capabilities have advanced in line with the experience and lessons gained from the battlefield and described the country as “stronger, more united and more vigilant than at any other time in its history.”
His remarks came as he responded to repeated threats and statements by some U.S. officials, saying such threats will not alter Iran’s decisions or intimidate the Islamic Republic.
“Some U.S. officials think that by repeating threats they can change our will or intimidate the Islamic Republic of Iran, but they are seriously mistaken,” he said.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran and our decision-making apparatus attach no value to their threats. Basically, these threats have no operational value from our perspective and are more a political message or political statement than a message backed by real military capability,” Ebn-e-Reza said.
He said that the continued reliance on threats that have previously proved unsuccessful is itself a sign of weakness in the intelligence and analytical systems of those making them.
“The reason for the enemy’s insistence on past threats, more than being a sign of power, is a sign of the paralysis of their intelligence and analytical apparatuses and, ultimately, the loss of their power of rationality,” he said.
“If an organization’s intelligence and analytical apparatus can correctly see and analyze realities on the ground, it cannot continue to insist on propositions and threats whose incorrectness has been proven time and again,” he added.
Ebn-e-Reza said the United States and Israel should understand that Iran could not be addressed through threats.
“The enemy must understand this very simple and clear reality: Iran should not be spoken to through threats,” he said.
Turning to regional developments, he attributed the current realities in the region to the “wrong policies and erroneous assessments” of the United States and Israel.
He said Iran has never been a threat to neighboring countries or the peoples of the region and has consistently sought, through wisdom and prudence, to distinguish between friends and enemies.
Ebn-e-Reza also stressed Iran’s internal coordination and preparedness, saying there is complete coordination among different levels of the country and that the same coordination exists in the decision-making process.
“Today, complete coordination exists among the various levels of the country, and this unprecedented and exceptional coordination also exists in the decision-making process,” he said, adding that the country is moving forward “without interruption, rapidly and with vitality.”
He said Iran is fully prepared to confront threats and that its readiness is based on its own independent capabilities and strategies.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran relies on its own will, capabilities and indigenous capacities to provide security and defend its interests,” Ebn-e-Reza said.