TEHRAN – Chief of the Army Ground Force Kiomars Heidari says his forces are ready to nip any foreign threat in the bud.

“The Army Ground Force, like other armed forces, is at the height of its readiness and if any threat emerges, it will nip it in the bud,” Tasnim quoted Brigadier General Heidari as saying on Sunday.

“Today, the armed forces are ready to respond strongly to any threat in the shortest possible time,” he said. 

He also pointed to the recent changes in the Army Ground Force, saying, “Some changes have been made in the nature of the Army Ground Force… and our forces’ readiness is at its highest level.”

The remarks came against the backdrop of increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington which peaked when the Islamic Republic shot down an advanced U.S. spy drone after it intruded into Iranian airspace.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on June 20 that a U.S. spy drone that violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of the day was shot down by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the southern province of Hormozgan.

The intruding drone was shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “Khordad-3rd”.

In comments made a few hours after the incident, IRGC Chief Major General Hossein 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.

On June 24, U.S. President Donald Trump announced new sanctions against Iran, targeting office of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top commanders of the IRGC. 

Also last week, the U.S. targeted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with sanctions.

MH/PA