US brokering normalization deals with Israel to escape isolation: IRGC chief

Chief Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami says the United States, having lost its political influence in the world arena, is trying to escape global isolation by brokering reconciliation between Israel and rulers of tiny Arab regimes.

“Today, the United States, which is pressing to isolate Iran, has been rendered isolated [itself]. It (America) gradually lost its political influence in the region and the world, was pushed to the sidelines of political developments and failed to secure any victory on the battlefield,” Salami said in an open parliamentary session on Tuesday.

He also noted that the normalization agreements that the regimes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed in mid-September with Israel were nothing more than an endeavor by Washington to pretend that it still has political power.

“America cannot deal with the coronavirus pandemic and 30 million hungry people in the US are being fed by charities today, and this is the [real] face of the world’s greatest power, which is reconciling the rulers of tiny regimes with the Zionist regime to save itself from isolation, portray itself as a political power, and show that it still exists,” Salami said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the IRGC chief commander described the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran as “a world war,” citing the military support provided by Britain, Germany, France, Austria, the Soviet Union and the US to the regime of Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein.

“The world attacked us at the height of its power, while we were at the height of our scarcity and loneliness, and this was the most unequal war in history after Ashura,” he said, referring to the Battle of Karbala in southern Iraq in 680 AD, during which the third Shia Imam and his 72 companions were martyred after fighting courageously for justice against the much larger army of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I.

“The Iranian nation achieved grandeur in the war, acted beyond the will of big powers, shattered their dream and stood against great enemies,” Salami stressed.

He further touched on the US role in creating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, saying Iran prevented America from achieving its goals and “buried its dreams for political modernization in the Middle East in the graveyard. The US is now on the retreat as it is worn out and powerless.”

Salami also highlighted the role of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in guiding the nation on the path of resistance, saying the Leader did not buckle under the enemies’ pressure and helped Iranians stand against their economic sanctions.

“The Iranian people want dignity. The Iranian people do not exchange their independence, honor, freedom and magnanimity for anything,” he said.

Although military avenues are closed to the enemies, they have opted for economic and psychological warfare against the Islamic Republic, the IRGC chief commander underlined.

“In today’s world order, one must either be strong and popular or be weak and surrender. We chose the first path,” he said.

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