Iran Revolutionary Guard commander: We’ve sapped America of its power

The Revolutionary Guards commander says Iran is the “absolute power” in the Middle East now.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that the Islamic Republic has managed to exhaust the ability of the United States to fight against it, according to Reuters, which quoted the semi-official Mehr news agency.

In a possible reaction to President Trump’s statement in Japan that America was not looking for the removal of Iran’s leadership, Major General Hossein Salami said, “We have been able to… empty the enemy’s capacity for war. You see the decline and crash of the enemies’ speech.”

He then went further, saying “Today, Iran is an absolute power of the region and because of this it is not afraid of the enemy’s threats. Today, America has been defeated in its political philosophy.”

Trump had said on Monday, “We aren’t looking for regime change – I just want to make that clear. We are looking for no nuclear weapons.”

Trump added that that he believed “Iran would like to make a deal,” and that American sanctions were bearing fruit.

Hossein Salami became the head of the IRGC in April, just days after the U.S. officially designated it a terrorist organization.

According to the Jahan newspaper, which is closely linked to the IRGC, his promotion from deputy commander indicated that a new era had begun, one of a “more clear confrontation” with the U.S. – and Israel.

According to Radio Farda’s military and IRGC expert Morad Veisi, “No Iranian commander has threatened the United States, Israel and Europe more than Salami.”

Salami has often boasted of Iran’s military prowess, claiming that his country’s forces could even beat those of the United States. He is also a strong proponent of Iran’s presence in Syria.