Ex-DM:

US Unable to Start War against Iran

TEHRAN (defapress)- Former Iranian Defense Minister and senior member of the Expediency Council (EC) Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi underlined Washington's incapability to launch war against Iran, stressing his country's high defensive and deterrence power.

News ID: 77772

Date: 15 June 2019 - 15:23

"The US cannot enter war with Iran for different reasons. When someone wants to enter a war, he/she should assume him/herself as a winner but the US does not consider itself as the winner because it has not even been able to overcome a simple issue like Yemen and it has failed in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan as well," General Vahidi, the current president of the National Defense University, told FNA on Saturday.

He underscored Iran's high defensive capabilities, and said the country is now able to build a missile defense shield more powerful than the Russian-made S-300.

General Vahidi also added that the Iranian defense ministry will soon fly new home-made training fighter jets.

In relevant remarks last month, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei told a gathering of senior Iranian officials that he saw no possibility of war between Tehran and Washington, adding that the recent US military buildup in the region only aimed at frightening Iran to yield to the White House demands, but Iran stands strong.

Addressing the heads of the country’s executive, judiciary, and legislative branches as well as other senior officials, parliamentarians, and important figures in the country’s political, social, and cultural spheres, Ayatollah Khamenei ruled out the possibility of war between the United States and Iran despite heightened tensions between the two sides, saying Washington knows engaging in such a conflict would not be in its interest.

The Leader further said any confrontation between the US and Iran would not be “a military one,” and that “there was not going to be any war”.

“The Iranian nation’s definite option will be resistance in the face of the US, and in this confrontation, the US would be forced into a retreat,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Neither we nor they, who know war will not be in their interest, are after war.”

Ayatollah Khamenei further explained that the confrontation between the two sides is “a clash of wills,” asserting that Iran would be the ultimate victor of this battle.

The Leader ruled out any negotiation with the US as long as Washington sticks with its hostile approach against the Islamic Republic, saying Washington would be attempting to undermine Iran’s “points of strength,” such as its defensive power or its strategic regional influence, in any such interaction.

As an example, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “They (Americans) say we should negotiate over your (Iran’s) defensive weapons, (questioning) why do you build (for instance) a missile with a given range. Reduce the range (of your missiles, they say,) so you would not be able to hit our bases.”

The Leader further played down Washington’s highly belligerent rhetoric against Iran, saying its real capability did not match its loud bluster, and that it “needs to engage in (such bluster).”

Ayatollah Khamenei said Washington gives priority to Israel’s interests over the benefits of all others, adding, “The control of many affairs rests in the hands of the Zionist society.”

The Leader pointed to the absence of integrity in the US administration, noting how various American officials contradict each other on a daily basis. The American society, he added, is also afflicted with rampant socioeconomic problems and violence.

Ayatollah Khamenei, meanwhile, also highlighted how Washington’s policies regarding Europe and Asia had backfired.

“In (its) policy of confrontation with the Islamic Republic too, the US will definitely suffer defeat, and (the situation) will end up to our benefit,” the Leader said, citing warnings by American analysts that Washington’s pressure on Tehran would, contrary to its intended purpose, trigger an “economic mutation”.

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