TEHRAN - Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has said that the axis of resistance must unite efforts to expel the United States’ forces from the region.

“We must unite our efforts to remove the U.S. troops from the region and destroy the Zionist entity,” Hajizadeh told Almasirah Media Network in an interview published on Friday.

He noted that the axis of the resistance is not only Iran, rather it extends from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and from Ansarullah in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Pointing to Iran’s January 8 attack on a U.S. airbase in Iraq in retaliation to the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Hajizadeh said, “The failure of the U.S. administration to acknowledge the deaths of Ein Al-Assad is evidence of humiliation. They initially said something and then changed their narration to admit recently that 109 people were exposed to the so-called traumatic brain injury (TBI).”

He added that Washington will definitely admit later to the killing of soldiers now claiming suffer from TBI.
 
General Hajizadeh pointed out that what is important in the Ein Al-Assad strike is a severe blow to the U.S. prestige, because the Iranian strike was on the largest American base.

The U.S. assassinated Soleimani, Iran’s top anti-terror commander, in an airstrike in Baghdad on January 3.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has described the assassination of Soleimani as a “cowardly” act that brought “disgrace” upon the U.S. and said that the U.S. must leave the region.

Ayatollah Khamenei said on January 8 that the U.S. “corruptive presence” in the region must come to an end.

The New York Times reported on February 10 that more than 100 American service members have traumatic brain injuries from Iranian airstrikes.

“More than 100 American service members have traumatic brain injuries from Iranian airstrikes on Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in January, the Defense Department said, a number that was more than 50 percent higher than previously disclosed,” said the report.

The Trump administration at first said there were no injuries, but a week later said several service members were evaluated for possible concussions.

Then, days after Mr. Trump’s statements in Davos, the Defense Department said that 34 people had suffered brain injuries. The number was later increased to 50 and then to 64.

NA/PA