TEHRAN -- The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday Iran is not a warmongering country but if attacked, it is Tehran that will determine the magnitude and quality of the confrontation.
“The enemies should know that it is us that would choose the battlefield and the intensity and quality of the battle. Of course, our strategy is defensive and we are not belligerent,” Major General Hussein Salami said during a ceremony to unveil new military equipment to join the IRGC Ground Force.
“Our policy is defensive, but our strategies are all operational, and that is a fact. We will not initiate a war, but after the first invasion, we will be offensive because we want to safeguard our territorial integrity,” he added.
Salami said Iran has been facing threats emanating from policies of “evil powers” over the past decades, adding that those seeking to stoke insecurity, from the United States to their European allies and their regional partners and local terrorists, are all incessantly hatching plots against the country.
However, Iran has emerged victorious out of all these political, military, economic and intelligence schemes of the enemy that it has been facing directly and indirectly, the top commander noted.
Salami said the enemy has been seeking to target Iran through various forms, the biggest of which is psychological warfare, but “security prevails in the country” and armed forces have their finger on the trigger while keeping a watchful eye on all enemy movements.
The remarks came as the IRGC Ground Force took delivery of a broad range of modern weapons and military equipment, including different drones, precision-guided missiles, missiles capable of pinpoint strikes, combat helicopters, anti-tank missile systems and armored vehicles.
Among the equipment unveiled was the ground-launched version of Almas (Diamond) anti-tank missile with a range of 8 kilometers as well as Qaem-114, an anti-tank missile with a range of 10 km, which is capable of destroying stationary and mobile targets with a variety of thermal and laser detectors.
Qaem-114 can be mounted on combat helicopters.
A set of multi-purpose vehicles and artillery also joined the IRGC Ground Force in the combat logistic section.
Salami said during the ceremony that the new equipment is produced indigenously to brush up the country’s defense sector.
IRGC Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Muhammad Pakpour and a group of other commanders, officials and senior experts of the Armed Forces were also present in the unveiling ceremony.
Iran has achieved self-sufficiency in manufacturing much-needed military equipment over the past decades while it has been under harsh sanctions by the West.
Iranian officials have assured the country’s neighbors and all countries that the military power is solely at the service of defending the country’s territorial integrity and promoting regional stability and security.