Iranian Armed Forces Spokesman: America ‘No. 1 Enemy,’ Israel ‘Must Be Eliminated’
Iranian Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi affirmed the United States is the Iranian republic’s top enemy while describing his country’s commitment to eliminate the Jewish state.
In his remarks, which were made during an interview that aired on Iranian TV last Wednesday, the senior spokesman referred to Israel as “the dog guarding America,” while deeming the United States “the number one enemy of the Iranian people.”
“[America] has brought its guard dog – the Zionist entity – to this region,” he said. “From time to time, this dog barks.”
Claiming that Israel “doesn’t have the capability” to attack Iran, Shekarchi warned that if the Jewish state “perpetrates any strategic mistake, it will be slapped in the face, and it will not be able to recover.”
“Our strategy towards the Zionist entity never changes: the removal of the Zionist entity,” he said. “Israel must be eliminated.”
Explaining Iran’s strategy “formulated” by former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the General Staff spokesman reiterated the need for Israel’s elimination.
“We have not fallen back, nor will we fall back, a single step from this strategy,” he said.
“The strategy of the resistance front is the annihilation of the Zionist entity,” he added.
Referring to the sending of Iran’s largest warship to the Atlantic Ocean, Shekarchi called the ship’s presence a “flexing of muscles, a show of force.”
“America’s sailors oppose the security of the region,” he said. “The sailors of the Islamic Republic are trying to provide security and peace in the region.”
“Iran is proud of sending the Makran warship, in order to confront all the schemes of America and its allies in the region,” he added.
Earlier this year, Shekarchi warned the “slightest mistake” on Israel’s part would compel his country to “level Tel Aviv and Haifa.”
Last year, Shekarchi warned the U.S. to consider the consequences of any naval challenge to the Islamic republic, saying, “The Americans must have seen that if they take the smallest act of aggression against the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters or the interests of our people, they would receive a slap harder than before.”
Iran, the largest state-sponsor of terrorism worldwide, claims its nuclear program is for energy purposes but world leaders, including the six nations that joined the 2015 deal to limit Iran’s nuclear weapons capacity, say enriching uranium may lead to Iran’s ability to quickly create a nuclear weapon.
The Obama-led nuclear deal, from which President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, delineates an enrichment limit of 3.67 percent.
Iran has been accused of violating the agreement, with Tehran having since produced 10 kilograms of uranium enriched to near 60 percent, according to a report published on Monday by the Institute for Science and International Security, a US-based think tank.
The report concluded that Iran is on track to obtaining enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb within one month.
