Head of Iran Revolutionary Guards: Sanctions increase regime’s support

Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Ali Jafari said that the weak state of the US army and the American economy preclude war.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Mohammad Jafari 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Stringer Iran)
Mohammad Jafari 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Stringer Iran)
Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Ali Jafari, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said on Sunday that sanctions have only increased the peoples’ support of the regime.
“They suppose that they can force the Iranian nation to surrender by doing so, but the outcome of all these sanctions has been the massive presence of the people in the rallies and at the ballot boxes as well as [their growing] support for the Islamic establishment and its noble objectives,” he said according to a report in Iran’s Fars News Agency.
Jafari also said that Iran’s enemies have failed to stop the Islamic regime’s mission.
“The enemies are orchestrating many plots against Iran, and they are trying to meddle in the country’s affairs through political and security issues in a bid to divert the revolution from its path, and because their [previous] moves in doing so have failed to make any success,” he said.
Meanwhile, the head of Iran’s Basij forces, Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Reza Naqdi, said that the US claim that all options are on the table is a bluff.
Referring to US President Barack Obama’s comment that a military option is still possible against Iran, he said: “These are just boastful remarks and bluffing, because the US army and its economy are weak and their people do not accept to go to [another] war.
“The US does not have a strong logic and reasoning, and it is thus forced to always resort to the language of force,” he said.
The major P5+1 powers (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) will continue negotiating with Iran over its nuclear weapons program later this week.