IRGC medals, signal to US to respect Iran: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Kaveh Afrasiabi, an author and political scientist, about Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei awarding the ‘Fath’ (Victory) medal to commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) naval forces for arresting a number of US sailors who had trespassed on Iran’s territorial waters.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Well the significance, why do you think the Leader of the Revolution actually chose to award these IRGC commanders with the medals of Honor for actually dealing with the American sailors in that way?

Afrasiabi: Well I think that this was a very well-deserved honor bestowed on those Iranian guards who protect Iran’s territorial sovereignty in Persian Gulf and the incident involving two fully-armed US military boats found in Iran’s territorial waters continues to be an issue of discussion and even debate particularly in the United States and some even accuse Iran of violating international law when in fact it was those US sailors who transgressed into Iran’s territorial waters and were briefly apprehended and when it was discovered that that been there accidentally they were released.

So the Leader’s bestowing these honors on the guards I think is sending another signal to the Americans and others to respect Iran’s sovereignty and to make sure that such incidents do not occur in the future.

Press TV: And does it not highlight in general, that act, the strength of Iran? We have seen recently also an unmanned Iranian drone that took photographs actually of French and American aircraft carriers without them knowing, is it just basically showing because Iranians say time and time again that this area they will keep secure and actually they do not need any other entities in the Persian Gulf to secure the region? What message do you think these acts actually send to the Americans and others?

Afrasiabi: Well Iran is a powerful regional state that has always relied on the doctrine of self-reliance and questioning the intrusion and presence of outside forces regarding them as a source of instability rather than stability and that has been a [bone] of contention as we know between Iran and the United States for past three, four decades since the Islamic Revolution and this will likely continue in the foreseeable future as well.

But from Iran’s vantage point and the dictates of its national security, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Persian Gulf is of highest importance and is an issue that various Iranian presidents have raised in terms of collective security and the need for self-reliance and collective efforts of the Persian Gulf littoral states including Iran and others to maintain stability and peace and tranquility of the region.

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