TEHRAN — Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), has said the U.S. military’s increased activities in the region is a manifestation of the Washington regime’s fear due to its past evil acts.

“The U.S. military’s increased activity in the region is just a defensive show and stems from fear due to its past acts of mischief,” Shamkhani said in a tweet on Monday.

“Such measures only intensify entropy of insecurity and lead to harmful misunderstandings,” he said, adding that the security of the region can only be realized through the withdrawal of anti-stability foreign elements.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that an Israeli submarine had embarked for the Persian Gulf as a warning to Iran and that Israel was preparing for a battle amid rising hostilities.

Earlier this month, the U.S. military sent two B-52H bombers to the Middle East on a short-notice mission. It also moved the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier back into the Persian Gulf along with other warships.

U.S. naval and air assets, meanwhile, conducted joint exercises with the Royal Saudi Air Force and Royal Saudi Navy in the Persian Gulf, the fifth such exercise this year. 

The Politico website cited a military official as saying that the U.S. military was on heightened alert and shoring up its forces in the Middle East.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said, “We do not seek conflict, but we must remain postured and committed to respond to any contingency or in opposition to any aggression.”  

The show of force comes ahead of the first anniversary of the U.S. assassination in Baghdad of West Asia’s iconic anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was the head of Iran's Quds Force.

An Iranian lawmaker has said Iran will consider the arrival of an Israeli submarine to the Persian Gulf “an act of aggression” and that Tehran will have the right to respond

“Israel must know that our response to aggression against our national security will be strong and massive,” spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Abolfazl Amouei was quoted as saying by Qatar's Al Jazeera network.

MH/PA