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Iranian general ‘welcomes’ war with US

Despite ongoing nuclear negotiations, Iran’s military appears to anticipate going to war against the US. 

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

As Iran and the P5+1 negotiate a final deal regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions on Iran, a high-ranking Iranian general declared that its forces are ready to wage battle with the US.

In an interview on Iranian TV earlier this month, Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Deputy Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami threatened the Americans, saying: “We welcome war with the Americans,” MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) reported.

“I tell the Americans again…that the age in which political superiority is gained through threats, intimidation and even military force has come to an end. The Americans should compare their past military victories over feeble armies…with the outcome and consequence of confronting the great of Islamic Iran,” said the general.

The US aircraft carriers would be destroyed, its air bases in the region burned and the skies set ablaze, he said. “We have built our strength for the purpose of long, extended wars… more than for the purpose of peace, compromise, and dialogue with them,” Salami stressed.

Training to Confront the US

Iran US boat replica

The Iranians attack a replica of a US aircraft carrier. (PressTV)

The Iranian armed forces have recently conducted several large-scale military drills, including those specifically simulating war with US forces.

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During a naval exercise in February, the Iranian navy fired two ballistic missiles that blew up an Iranian-built, life-size replica of a US aircraft carrier. The target was completely destroyed by the missiles, reports say.

The drill included maritime mine operations by speedboats as well as the firing of four coast-to-sea missiles in the strategic Persian Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, RGC’s navy commander, stated last April that “the Americans and the entire world know that the American navy is one of our targets, and it will take us 50 seconds to destroy every US warship.”