TEHRAN – Commander of the IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami, said on Tuesday that Iran is in an “all-out war” with the enemy, Mehr reported.

Addressing a conference of commanders of the IRGC Ground Force in Mashhad, Salami said the enemy adopts different strategies, including military, economic, social, political and cultural ones, to counter the Islamic Republic.

“Today, the enemy is active in all fields and we are actually in an all-out war with the enemy,” he stated.

IRGC chief says the enemy has changed its approach from military action to economic, political and proxy war.

The top general also elaborated on the military capabilities of the IRGC Ground Force and other units of the armed forces, saying, “With the grace of God… we will not be defeated in any war on the ground.”
  
Pointing to recent developments, Salami said the enemy has changed its approach from military action to economic, political and proxy war.

“The animosities have grown and deepened but the strategies have declined,” he remarked.

Last month, in the latest episode of the Tehran-Washington tensions, a U.S. Global Hawk spy drone violated Iranian airspace and was downed by the IRGC Aerospace Force after it ignored repeated warnings by the Iranian military.

The IRGC said there was another intruding U.S. manned plane beside the Global Hawk but the force “refrained” from targeting it.

In comments made a few hours after the incident, Salami said the shooting down of the U.S. drone had a straightforward message that any foreign intrusion into Iranian territories would draw a crushing response.

Addressing the conference, IRGC Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said the downing of the American drone changed the situation in favor of the Islamic Republic.

“Deep-attack doctrine” on the enemy has been put on the agenda of the IRGC Ground Force, General Pakpour says. “This measure destroyed the United States’ grandeur, and after the incident, everyone realized more than ever that we are powerful,” he asserted.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has turned into an authentic regional power and this issue is not tolerable for the U.S.,” Pakpour added.The general further said his forces have devised and exercised new strategies for assault on the enemy.

The “deep-attack doctrine” has been put on the agenda of the IRGC Ground Force and was even practiced during the “Payambar-e Azam 12” war game held on the southern coasts of Iran in December 2018, he explained.

Pakpour added that the IRGC Ground Force will strengthen the necessary training programs and equipment on the basis of the new doctrine.

MH/PA