Iran’s Hajizadeh: We must unite to expel the Zionists and Americans
The Iranian commander was speaking to pro-Houthi media in Yemen, which means his comments were also directed at Saudi Arabia. Iran has sent technology to the Houthis to aid their fight against Riyadh
By SETH J. FRANTZMANAmir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps elite Aerospace force(photo credit: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Iran’s Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s elite Aerospace force, has said that the region must unite to expel “Zionists” and Americans.In what have been daily statements by Iran’s leadership, the regime is claiming it will destroy Israel and get the US to leave Iraq and Syria.Hajizadeh’s comments matter because his units are involved with missiles, drones and air defense, and have been involved in attacks on US forces using ballistic missiles and the exporting of Iran’s technology that can target Israel.Hajizadeh was speaking to pro-Houthi media in Yemen, which means that his comments were also directed at Saudi Arabia. Iran has sent technology – such as cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles – to the Houthis to aid their fight against Riyadh.Last week, a spokesman for Iran’s armed forces said Israel would disappear; IRGC leader Hossein Salami said that there is a new Middle East and warned Iran would attack Israel and the US if threatened; and Abbas Mousavi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Iran would respond to any Israeli actions in Syria. Hajizadeh’s comments are part of this pattern.“Today we are not only an Iranian axis of resistance,” he said. Today the “axis of resistance extends from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, from Ansarullah in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”He sketched out a 3,000 km. arc of Iranian influence and allies that all work in concert against the US, Israel and their allies. In short, Hajizadeh laid all of Iran’s cards on the table and admitted what is well known: Iran’s proxies and allies are not just local forces, but part of Iran’s search for hegemonic rule in the Middle East.No need for Tehran to pretend anymore, Hajizadeh appears to be saying. And he thinks Iran is on the verge of winning. Some 41 years after the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s leaders are becoming what they accuse their enemies of: arrogant.Hajizadeh was behind the ballistic missile attack on US forces at Ayn al-Assad base in Iraq that injured more than 100 Americans in early January. “The attack on Ayn al-Assad and the US government’s failure there represents humiliation,” he said. He noted that the US first said no soldiers were injured, but that now the US has admitted that 109 suffered concussions, using the US technical term “traumatic brain damage.”The US hasn’t sent air defense to Iraq, even though it has the Patriot system and has purchased two Israeli-designed Iron Dome batteries.The Iranian air commander says that the ballistic missiles shredded America’s reputation and “destroyed the US hegemony, because we attacked the largest American base.”Iran carried out the attack to avenge the killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January. Last week was the 40th day since Soleimani’s death, an important memorial day in Iran.Hajizadeh appears set to continue Iran’s advances in missiles, drones, cruise missiles and air defense. The aerospace force is Iran’s main offensive arm, and Tehran has invested massive resources in it. Hajizadeh was momentarily humiliated after Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian civilian airliner on January 10 in the wake of the attack on the US. But he is back now, showing off new missiles like the Thunder 500.
Related TagsQasem Soleimani
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