TEHRAN – Chief of the Iranian Army Abdolrahim Mousavi says the United States pushes forward in the face of submission and backs off when faced with resistance.

“One of the characteristics of American rulers is that they are like an animal that would chase after you if you run away and would run away if you attack them,” Fars on Saturday quoted Major General Mousavi as saying.

He said the active resistance of Iran has led to the failure of Washington’s “maximum pressure” policy against the Iranian nation.

“Today, the U.S. is suffering from strategic frustration and confusion because of its consecutive failures in the region,” he added.

The anti-dialogue remarks come amid unresolved tensions between Iran and the United States, with Washington making frequent calls for negotiations while at the same time increasing pressure on Tehran through sanctions.

A day earlier, Mousavi’s counterpart in the IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami, warned against the U.S. plot for direct talks with Iran, stressing that the Islamic Republic won’t fall into such trap.

He said the U.S. government seeks to regain its lost honor through talks with the Iranian officials.

Highlighting Iran’s awareness of the “enemy’s dreams”, the general emphasized that none of the Iranians would enter talks with the U.S., because everybody knows that negotiation is part of a game that helps the enemy achieve its objectives.

Washington reimposed its anti-Iran sanctions after it unilaterally walked away from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, in May 2018, after its illegitimate demands to change the text of the JCPOA was defied by the international community, including the other signatories to the deal – Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.

MH/PA