Major General Salami said, during a meeting with Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami on Saturday, Iran’s foes had been tired out.
“Our enemies are fatigued today. They look sturdy but have decayed from within. They will crumble sooner rather than later although they are trying to deny that fact,” the commander said.
Salami said Iran’s enemies are deploying all their means and capacities against the country, but added, “Our livelihood has not been predicated on oil. The US cannot restrict our livelihood.”
The commander highlighted the United States cannot restrict Iran’s sources of livelihood as oil sales do not constitute the Islamic Republic’s sole source of income.
The IRGC chief commander also said that the sanctions can be turned into an opportunity to increase internal capabilities, adding that the sanctions can be defeated through constant efforts.
Describing Iran’s armed forces as an intertwined chain, Salami said that developing a common understanding about technical realities and operational requirements will help pursue priorities in the best manner.
“Current juncture is the season of building up power and we should try to tip the balance in our favor through finding strategies determining radius of impact,” he said.
Salami also hailed achievements of Defense Ministry as the symbol of self-reliance against the enemy, saying that despite sanctions, the country has achieved more breakthroughs in the defense sector.
During the Saturday meeting, Brigadier General Hatami, for his part, wished success for Salami as the IRGC’s commander, to which position he was appointed by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei last month.
Hatami pledged that the Defense Ministry would be supportive of the IRGC more strongly and efficiently than ever.
Defense Ministry has integrated plans on agenda to meet the needs, he said, noting that research undertaken by the ministry last year yielded two times more than previous years.
On Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei reassured that national solidarity will defuse all the plots and conspiracies against Iran.
Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with Iranian teachers, said, “One of the most essential tasks is to safeguard unity and everyone has a duty to protect and safeguard this unity which is a (key) factor to ensure national sovereignty.”
He said the US has taken very hostile measures in various economic, media and political areas, and added, “Today the enemy's combative, political, economic and cyberspace arrangement is an arrangement for war and it appears that the military field is the only area they have not made such an (war) arrangement yet. Of course, our armed forces are vigilant. The nation should make a proper arrangement to thwart any aggression.”
“By God’s grace, enemy's plots, conspiracies and massive propaganda to engage the minds will lead to their detriment and you the dear youth will witness, by the grace of God, the US defeat and the Zionists’ downfall as well as the ultimate victory and glory of the Iranian nation,” he noted.
Referring to human resources as the most important asset for people, the Leader said, “The most important subject of civilization for us is education. For a country and a civilization, the most important capital is human capital. That is to say, having money but lacking human capital, you would get nowhere.”
He added, “Just like some wealthy countries that devote their big pockets to traitors who perpetrate crimes against humanity, because they lack human assets.”
Condemning the UN 2030 agenda, he said, “The essence of this agenda is that our educational system would teach children a lifestyle and philosophy of life-based on Western principles. This means that you, the teachers would train soldiers and footmen for the West in your classrooms.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei described the plunder of Iran’s oil reserves during the tyrannical regimes ruling over Iran as another example.
“(Another example is) our country lies on an ocean of oil. We were unaware of it and did not even have the know-how (to extract it),” he noted.
He said that the western countries “took away our oil and built factories for themselves used it in their wars and gave us a little in return during the monarchy. This is the result of neglecting to invest in human resources”.
The Leader went on to say, “The healthy education system we seek would nurture wise, capable, thoughtful, virtuous, pious, chaste, efficient, ingenious, brave and practical men and women.”
He described such an educational system as the prerequisite to the ideal status Iran would win in science and knowledge where anyone would feel the need for learning Persian in order to acquire knowledge.
Back in December 2018, Ayatollah Khamenei warned the Iranian nation to remain vigilant against new US plots for the next year, saying that Washington might have made done the propaganda this year, but be readying to stage the main part of its plot in 2019.
"Earlier this year, the US claimed that Iran was to have a hard summer and that the revolution wouldn’t see its 40th anniversary. To their dismay, this summer was one of the best summers; and the Iranian nation will magnificently celebrate the 40th anniversary of the revolution on 22nd of Bahman (February 11)," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing the family members of the Islamic Revolution's martyrs in Tehran on December 12.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran called for the Iranian nation to keep vigilant in the face of deceits by the US, saying, "The Iranian nation should maintain their awareness. When the US says in 2018 they will do this or that, it could be a deceitful plot. They might want to stir controversy in 2018 while their actual plots are for 2019. You should be completely ready and alerted."
Ayatollah Khamenei described the US as a vicious enemy, and said, "The US is a wicked enemy, united with the Zionists and the reactionary regimes of the region. We are of course stronger and until now they have been unable to do a thing, and they won't be able to anything in the future."
The Supreme Leader advised the young generation of Iranians as well as political entities to be vigilant not to rely upon the enemy and prepare the field for the enemy.
The Iranian officials have downplayed the US sanctions and pressures.
Iran's First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said in November that Washington had always been suffering from miscalculations when assessing the strength and power of survival of the Islamic Republic.
"The US receives information from wrong sources. They had launched extensive propaganda to show the Islamic Republic inefficient and imagined that Iran wouldn't be able to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Revolution's victory," Jahangiri said in the Southern province of Khuzestan.
He added that the US and its allies had attempted much to foment unrests and protests in Iran, but Iranian people foiled all their plots.
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