Iran ready to nip any threat in bud: Commander

A top Iranian military commander has stressed the importance of boosting the country’s defense and military prowess, reiterating the Islamic Republic’s readiness to repel any threat.

“The country’s defense sector is fully ready to nip any threat in the bud,” Head of Iran's Passive Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali said in the pre-sermon address to worshipers at the weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran’s defense might is not up for negotiation, stressing the country’s resolve to strengthen its defense capabilities despite enemy attempts to weaken the nation.

PressTV-Iran defense power not up for bargaining: Leader

Ayatollah Khamenei says Iran will continue to bolster its defense power despite enemy attempts to weaken the nation.

“We have repeatedly announced, and declare once more that the country’s defensive means and power are not up for negotiation and bargaining,” the Leader stated.

The US House of Representatives in Congress on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program. The "Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act" was passed in the lower chamber of Congress with 423 votes in favor and two against.

PressTV-US House passes sanctions on Iran’s missile program

The US House of Representatives in Congress has voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program.

To become law, the bill would have to pass the US Senate and be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The Iranian commander further pointed to the US president’s strategies on Tehran and said Trump continues to keep up “soft threats” against Iran through infiltration as well as media and diplomatic campaigns.  

Jalali warned of enemy plots to take advantage of a multilateral nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries more than two years ago.

“The enemy seeks to inspect the country’s military and defense sites as well as infrastructure factories under the pretext of obtaining assurance about the JCPOA’s implementation,” he said.

“The entire world knows that the Islamic Republic of Iran has completely fulfilled its commitments, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency, since agreeing to the JCPOA,” the commander pointed out.

Trump on October 13 refused to formally certify that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement. He insists that the nuclear deal should be renegotiated, or else it may face the prospect of total collapse.

The US president also said his goal was to ensure that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.

Iran has vehemently rejected the possibility of renegotiation, warning that any hostile action against the JCPOA will jeopardize regional and global peace and security.

Read more:

• Iran's missile program not open to negotiation: UN envoy

• US closest allies oppose Trump's anti-JCPOA policies: Iran FM

Jalali also warned that the US seeks to use the JCPOA in order to undermine Iran’s role and power in the region, particularly in the fight against Daesh terrorist group and said Tehran must heed this “serious” threat and adopt necessary strategies to counter it.

In his latest anti-Iran remarks, the US president also accused Tehran of supporting the “atrocities” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said Tehran “condoned” Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people.

Iran has been providing military advisers for the fight against terrorism on the request of the Syrian government, helping turn around the battle which has been going on for more than six years now.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Jalali said the enemy has pointed its hostile measures at the economic sector and added, “The enemy thinks that it can achieve its desired results in the economic sector through pressure and sanctions.”

He said economic interaction, diplomacy and resistance are among main ways to thwart such plots.

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