IRGC Commander Rules Out Compromise With U.S.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Chief Commander of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami ruled out any compromise with the United States, calling it a ‘political deception’ by Washington.

Attending the open session of the parliament on the occasion of Holy Defense Week, General Salami said: “There is no military option available for the U.S. and war is ruled out. They are using economic pressure and psychological warfare. We have to work day and night in this economic war. The enemy is neither able nor willing to solve our problems, and the path to our prosperity does not pass through interaction with the U.S. If we compromise with the United States, it will damage us. Every nation does not break until it bends, and the story of compromise is a political deception.”

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 U.S. 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.

The IRGC commander emphasized: “The United States has gradually lost its influence and has not been able to achieve a field victory. It brought ISIS to the scene, and we made the U.S. failed at no cost and foiled its aspirations for the changing of West Asia. The U.S. is retreating.”

Referring to the harsh economic sanctions imposed on Iran, Gen Salami said: “Once again, we fight in this economic war, which has a global dimension. People endure hardships because they want dignity and independence.”

Salami also highlighted the role of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed 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.