TEHRAN – Spokesman for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) General Ramezan Sharif has said that the pace of Israel’s decline has reached its highest ever pace, noting that Iran is approaching the final summit.

Speaking at a commemoration ceremony on Tuesday, General Sharif pointed out that “we are close to conquering the final summit and that we should not heed the enemy’s words.”

The process of the downfall of the Zionist regime has reached its most intense part over the past 70 years, General Ramezan Sharif said, according to Tasnim. 

He said the global arrogance and the Zionists have become so frightened of the power of resistance axis that they assassinated senior Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani.

The spokesman also noted that the blood of martyrs and the resistance of people have frustrated the Zionists and the enemies of Islam.

In remarks in May 2020, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei highlighted the intense hatred among many world people for the US because of its support for terrorism, saying the Americans will have to face eviction from Iraq and Syria.

Iran has underlined that it will never forget the US assassination of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani and his comrades in Iraq and “will definitely deal the reciprocal blow to Americans.”

In January 2020, a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport assassinated General Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. The attack — that also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror group, along with several others— came while General Soleimani was on an official visit to the Iraqi capital.

The remarks came amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel. Israeli officials have unleashed a campaign of military threats against Iran in recent weeks. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has said that he ordered the Israeli army to prepare for a military attack on Iran. Other Israeli intelligence, political and military officials have echoed the same threat. An Iranian security official has told Nour News, a media outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, that relative progress made in the Vienna talks could reinforce Israel’s motivation to make “malicious moves.”

Many believe that Israeli threats against Iran are primarily meant to force Iran into making more concessions in Vienna. In reality, observers say, Israel is unable and incapable of mounting an effective military strike to take out Iran’s sparse and heavily-fortified nuclear plants. 

Iran’s latest military drill showed what Israel would face if it dared to attack Iran. The drill also was indicative of the gravity of the situation. Iran has said Israel won’t dare to attack. But at the same time, Iranian military leaders highlighted their combat readiness to respond to any hostile move by Israel.

Last week, the IRGC held a massive military drill during which it practiced how to target Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant. 

The IRGC simultaneously launched 16 ballistic missiles of various types that hit a mock sensitive target with 100-percent precision. Perhaps, this was the most remarkable part of the drill as Iran’s state-run TV showed the missiles roaring up into the sky and then raining down on a mock target very much resembling Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant which is thought to harbor Israeli nukes. The target was totally razed to the ground after it was hit with the missiles, possibly creating a scene of how the real Dimona would look like in case there was an Israeli attack against Iran.

The Great Prophet 17 drill began along the southern coastlines of the country last week with the participation of various forces of the IRGC such as the aerospace force and the cyber-electronic division.

The drill featured real-time firing of smart bombs, ballistic and cruise missiles targeting fixed and mobile targets. In addition, combat drones dropped bombs with pinpoint accuracy and Su-22 warplanes bombarded mock enemy targets in close air support (CAS) operation.

The IRGC’s Ground Force also put a new upgraded combat tank dubbed Karrar into service on the third day of the war game. The Karrar tank was operationalized during the exercise.  It is an upgraded version of the T-72m tanks that come into service for the first time.

Commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid said on Tuesday that the enemies cannot afford to take military action against Iran because they will have to suffer a strategic defeat if they dare to test the Islamic Republic’s power, according to Tasnim.

In comments at a military gathering on Tuesday, Major General Rashid advised the enemies not to test Iran’s power and determination “because they definitely could not afford the costs of extensive and comprehensive confrontation (with Iran).”

Therefore, the enemy had better confirm the Islamic Republic’s power in order to incur lower costs, he added.

He also hailed the IRGC for its recent war game in southern Iran, saying the Armed Forces hold annual drills, monitor the enemies constantly, and are prepared to impose costs on the enemy heavier than it what it may achieve.

Iran will turn the enemy’s minor and tactical success into a strategic defeat by choosing the right time and place and adopting the appropriate tools and unexpected methods, the general noted.

In comments in April, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said all Iranian military forces are ready to give a decisive and crushing response to any threat at any level in such a way that the enemies of Iran would regret taking a hostile action against the Islamic establishment.

General Bagheri and IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami also said that the latest drill was meant to send a message to Israel. 

Underlining that the missile part of the drill is carrying “very clear and obvious messages,” General Salami said, “The message of this drill is a serious, real, and field warning to threats by the Zionist regime’s officials that they should take care not to make mistakes and faults and if they make mistakes, we will cut off their hands.”

The IRGC Commander-in-Chief said that the difference between the actual operation and the IRGC's missile drill was only in changing the angles of launching the missile. “Therefore, enemies must watch their words,” the general said.

General Bagheri further amplified the warning by hinting that Iran expedited the timing of the drill due to Israel’s bluster against Iran. “This exercise was planned in advance, but the many yet empty threats by the leaders of the Zionist regime [Israel] caused this exercise to take place at this time, and thank God, it was one of the most successful missile exercises of the Islamic Republic of Iran so far,” he said.