‘ANY attempt by foreign forces to land on Iran’s shores will be met with overwhelming resistance,’ Deputy Chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari warned yesterday, adding that the country’s coastline will become ‘a hell’ for any invading force.
Iran announced yesterday that it had targeted US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes on Iranian IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) small boats Tuesday.
Earlier there had reportedly been attacks on three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz which were using unauthorised shipping lanes.
Speaking in a televised interview on Wednesday, Sayyari described any attempt to land foreign troops on Iranian territory as a red line for the Iranian nation, adding that the United States had planned such an operation but failed to carry it out.
He said the Iranian Army, together with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), law enforcement forces, the Basij, and the Iranian people, stand fully prepared to defend the country, adding that no amount of rhetoric would give Washington the courage to undertake such an operation.
‘The enemy knows that if it commits such a folly and lands forces on Iran’s coast, it will enter a hell from which there will be no escape,’ the commander said.
He dismissed US President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran’s naval forces had been destroyed, saying the remarks were intended to suggest that Washington could deploy troops along the Makran coast or near the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington’s statements were aimed at portraying Iran’s coastline as vulnerable to military intervention, he said, adding that the United States is waging psychological warfare through repeated public statements intended to intimidate the Iranian people.
Sayyari assured the public that Iran’s Armed Forces remain fully prepared to defend the country, saying the nation’s borders are secure and that no threat to Iran’s territorial integrity would be tolerated.
Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, US President Trump launched a diatribe against Iran.
Asked: ‘Is the MoU dead?’ (the memorandum of understanding, which led to the ceasefire agreed last month), Trump replied: ‘It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over.
‘I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people. And they’re vicious, violent people.
‘And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned it’s over. I’ll speak to our negotiators, they want to negotiate, they’re good people. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars.
‘We make a deal. If I make a deal with him (pointing at NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte), we have a deal. He goes out, he talks. We (US and Iran) make a deal, everyone’s agreed, no nuclear weapon.
‘We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say we never even talked about it. There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.’
Trump was then asked if talks will resume.
‘I don’t care, they can talk. But I think they’re wasting their time. They’re a bunch of lying guys.’
Trump then threatened to ‘attack Iran ‘hard tonight’.
