TEHRAN – A top commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force has warned that any aggression against the Islamic Republic will be followed by a “crushing response”.

Iran has not invaded any country and will not do so “but we will give a crushing response to (any) aggression by enemies,” General Ali Hajilou said on Monday, Tasnim reported.

Hajilou described Washington’s anti-Iran rhetoric as “media warfare”, reiterating that Iran does not seek war but is fully prepared to counter the enemy’s threats.   

Since enemies are incapable of carrying out operations against Iran they have resorted to media warfare instead, he remarked.

The remarks came amid increasing tensions between Iran and the U.S., with Washington imposing new harsh economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif predicted on Saturday that there would be no war between the U.S. and Iran. 

“I am sure, as Leader of the Islamic Revolution has said, there will be no war, because neither we seek a war nor anyone can imagine any confrontation with Iran in the region. However, it is essential to clarify the U.S. dangerous moves for the people of this country,” he told IRNA.

He added, “The reality is that Trump has said and reiterated recently that he does not seek war. However, there are people around him who push him towards war under the pretext that they want to make the U.S. powerful.”

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled out the possibility of war between the U.S. and Iran despite heightened tensions between the two sides.

Speaking at a large gathering of officials last week, the Leader said Washington knows that engaging in such a conflict would not be in its interest.

Writing an article in the New York Times on May 15, Wendy Sherman, the former under secretary of state for political affairs during the Obama administration, said as it has been clarified over the nearly past two decades the U.S. wars on Afghanistan and Iraq have failed to achieve the “purpose”.

“War in the Middle East, as we should have learned by now, is neither swift to end nor sure to achieve its purpose,” said Sherman who served as a senior nuclear negotiator with Iran.

After nearly 18 years since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, Taliban has emerged stronger to the extent that it now controls most of territory in the country. 
 
The U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003 also led to indescribably disastrous results. About a million Iraqis, mostly civilians, lost their lives to the spread of terrorism in the country.
 
MH/PA