TEHRAN – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said that it is on agenda of Iran’s armed forces to continuously increase their defense power.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the IRGC said the fact that “the arrogance system” has focused its attention on limiting Iran’s military power shows that Iran has been successful in countering their malign intention.

“The totality of the country’s military and defense organizations, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in particular, … will not hesitate a moment in thinking about or acting to focus on improving the country’s defense capacity,” the statement read.

It added that Iran’s achievements in various defense fields have turned the country into an “unrivaled power of the region, putting it at a level to compete with ultra-regional powers”.

The statement was released on the same day as United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned against ending an arms embargo on Iran, which will expire on October 2020.

“Time is drawing short to continue this activity of restricting Iran's capacity…. The international community will have plenty of time to see how long it has until Iran is unshackled to create new turmoil, and figure out what it must do to prevent this from happening,” Pompeo said Tuesday, during an address at the United Nations.

The arms embargo covers all weapons sales and “related material” to Iran. It was put in place by the UN and is set to be lifted five years after the adoption of the nuclear deal.

The push to extend the ban on weapons sales to Tehran comes amid increasing efforts by Washington to restrict Iran's oil exports in line with U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran.

SP/PA