TEHRAN – “We did take you seriously. This Hajizadeh [the IRGC Airspace commander] took you seriously when he landed missiles three miles away from you,” Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani said on Tuesday, addressing Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton.

Addressing a veterans’ conference in Tehran, Shamkhani was referring to the IRGC’s missile attacks on Daesh positions in Syria two nights earlier.

A few days earlier, Bolton had warned Iran over any move against its forces in Syria. “I might imagine they would take me seriously when I assure them today that if you cross us, our allies or our partners, if you harm our citizens, if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive. Yes, there will indeed be hell to pay,” Bolton had said.

“He is bullying, that guy with mustaches, Bolton. Yes, ‘Boloton’. It would be better to say ‘Bulletin’, because he keeps talking, saying ‘Take us seriously!’” Shamkhani said sarcastically.

He went on to ask: “What is Daesh doing just three miles away from you? You [to audience] are all military men. Is it possible that two opposing groups be as close as 3 miles without a fight?”

“We defeated America with the Revolution. We defeated America by defeating Saddam. By pursuing the revolution over 40 years we defeated America. Today the most evil Americans are ruling America. This is an opportunity for us to defeat this last-generation, evil American and turn ourselves into an unrivaled power, and that is possible.”

SP/MH