During the visit, Major General Bagheri will meet and hold talks with senior military and political figures of the East Asian country.

The key objective of the visit is said to be the promotion of defense diplomacy between the two countries.

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“In a two to three-hour session, they convinced him to change his mind,” he added.

Addressing the recent conditions of the region, he said “we are weakening presence and power of the US and the Zionist regime in the region gradually and the Axis of Resistance is improving.”

He also rejected some claims about Iran’s aids to Yemen saying that “how can Iran help a country which is confined? It is not possible to send medicine to Yemen how can we send 9-meter-missile to them?”

“These are the illusions that some ones have,” Gen. Bagheri added.

On June 20, In June, Iran’s IRGC downed a US Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone after it had violated Iranian airspace. Despite the US claims that the drone had been flying over international waters, Iran said it had retrieved sections of the drone in its own territorial waters where it was shot down.

The intruding drone was shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “Khordad-3rd”.

US President Donald Trump said afterward that he aborted a military strike to retaliate against Iran’s downing of the US drone because it could have killed 150 people, and signaled he was open to talks with Tehran.

Chief of General Staff of Iranian Armed Force, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, said on Wednesday that the US was on the verge of attacking Iran but called off the plans after Iran downed the intruding drone.

“The US was to take a practical measure [military strike] against us but in the name of a high number of probable victims, it overturned the decision,” he said, adding, “The main reason, however, was Iran’s deterrence power.”

These are the result of the Iranian thought and the commands of the Revolution Leader, he said, noting that despite all problems, Iran enjoys great capabilities in the defense sector and the Iranian nation will not let eruption of another war.

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Bagheri hailed holding the exhibition for covering Iran’s many military achievements.

The Iranian military chief referred to the missile defense system ‘Bavar 373’, which was unveiled on Thursday in a ceremony in Tehran commemorating Iran’s National Defense Industry Day by President Hassan Rouhani, saying that the air defense system successfully passed every test it was given.

He said that according to the results of the survey and the tests on ‘Bavar 373’, it has a range of 120 to 200 km and it showed that it was more successful in various dimensions than the renowned US Patriot system (Pack 3).

Bagheri further noted that the new air defense system will increase Iran’s deterrence power.

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He said that Iran has made considerable progress in aerospace fields, including in the production of aircraft, missiles, drones, and engines.

Bagheri said that before the Islamic Revolution, Iran was importing almost all its required equipment in military and non-military fields, however, sanctions closed doors of such imports. Iran understood that it cannot keep pace with different threats unless it attains the required technologies and industries, he added.

“Today, defensive industries are driving other industrial sectors of the country forward,” he highlighted, providing an example that recent production of some key auto parts by Defense Ministry solved problems of domestic automakers.

This valuable progress demonstrated that sanctions, as an assumed means for putting pressure on Iranian people and Armed Forces, can be seen as an opportunity for development, said the commander.

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During the phone conversation, General Bagheri offered his congratulations on the advent of Eid al-Adha and expressed the concern of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Muslim countries over the recent developments in Kashmir.

The Iran’s military chief said that “military approaches in this region will further complicate the situation,”

He stressed the need for maintaining calm in handling the situation in Kashmir, warning against hasty decisions on the fate of the region that do not take into account the people’s demands.

General Bagheri further expressed hope that real rights of the regional Muslim are secured through political efforts.

The commander of Pakistani Army, for his part, expressed his regret over the political and security conditions in Afghanistan, blaming foreign intervention, particularly by western countries for the Afghanistan’s current situation.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa further expressed appreciation to Iran’s special attention to the Muslims.

With regard to the security issues on the shared borders with Iran, the Pakistani army chief said that his country will spare no efforts to maintain security on the borders in the interest of the people of both countries.

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Bagheri went on to say that Iran has achieved a good level of military deterrence as it was proved in the case of the downing of the US’ Global Hawk drone right after violating the Iranian airspace, by using homegrown defense equipment.

“The enemy has failed to achieve its goals and it has been so much humiliated that it doesn’t know how to act,” Bagheri added.

“We are neither afraid of war, nor embrace it. Iranian Armed Forces, under the command of Islamic Revolution Leader, are ready with fingers on trigger to respond to any hostile measure of the enemy.”

Gibraltar police and customs agencies, aided by a detachment of British Royal Marines, boarded and impounded supertanker Grace 1, carrying Iranian oil, in the Strait of Gibraltar on Thursday, upon a request from the United States.

Later that day, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador to the country, Rob Macaire, to express its strong protest at the move. He was told that the British Royal Marines’ move was tantamount to “maritime piracy.”

London claims that the tanker had been carrying Iranian oil to Syria, which is under European Union’s sanctions but Iran says first, the tanker was not headed to Syria, and second, Iran is not a member an EU member and also not subject to any European oil embargo.

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Bilateral cooperation between Iran and Iraq can play an important role in strengthening peace, security and stability in the region to a great extent, Bagheri added.

Iran attaches great importance to its relationship with Iraq, he said, calling for boosting strategic, technical and industrial cooperation between the two sides.

“We consider security and development of Iraq as security and development of our own country,” Major General Bagheri reiterated.

For his part, Commander of the Iraqi Army Aviation, Staff Lieutenant General Hamed al-Atiya thanked Iran for its unsparing support to Iraq in the fight against ISIL and Takfiri terrorists and emphasized, “Iraq government is deeply interested in boosting and enhancing bilateral ties with Iran in all areas.”

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Once Iranian oil is not exported from the Strait of Hormuz, there will be no security for others and no other oil will be exported from this strategic area, Bagheri emphasized.

Armed forces of the country are responsible for maintaining security of Strait of Hormuz, he said and reiterated, “once Iranian oil is not exported via Strait of Hormuz, no other countries are allowed to export their oil through this strait.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to the US reimposition of sanctions on Iran and said, “since enemy is disappointed from military aggression, it has resorted to imposing economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Conspiracies and plots waged by enemies against the country will have not any impact on the strength and power of noble nation of Islamic Iran, he said, adding, “however, these plots waged against the country lead to more unity and amity among government organizations in the country.”

Leader of the Islamic Revolution hailed salient measures taken by the Law Enforcement Forces of the country in the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2019) and early days of the current year (started March 21, 2019), saying that Law Enforcement Forces should move forwards significantly especially in the year named after ‘boosting domestic production’, Major General Bagheri reiterated.

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US anger against IRGC is not surprising, he said, adding that Washington showed its anger by designating the force as a foreign terrorist organization. “Criminals who support terrorists by providing weapons and financial aids are introducing IRGC as a terrorist body. And no less is expected from the enemy.”

The United States has formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization, a notice in the US Federal Register confirmed on April 15. In retaliation, Iranian Parliament ratified 13-article pro-IRGC motion on Tuesday which officially designates US Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Bagheri pointed to US recent decision to not extend sanctions waivers for buyers of Iran’s oil, saying, “After 40 years, the Iranian nation has reached a level of power so as to stand on its feet with any amount of oil sales.” This can be an opportunity to reduce dependence on oil, he highlighted.

The White House announced on Monday that it will not renew sanctions waivers for countries which import Iranian crude oil. The waivers had been in place since November when the administration re-imposed sanctions on Iran after Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

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Iranian commander noted that he was in Khuzestan province due to flood conditions and has just arrived in Tehran for this meeting. Bagheri said that he is eyeing for the official visit Al-Ghanimi to Iran which is due after the month of Ramadan.

Touching upon their recent meeting in Syria, Bagheri hoped that meetings and cooperation between the two neighboring countries would continue in the future.

For his part, the Iraqi commander praised the status of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, hoping for a further boost in different sections.

He also described yesterday’s meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Prime Minister of Iraq Adil Abdul-Mahdi as effective. Iraq will not let others use its soil against Iran, he quoted Iraqi PM as saying in the meeting.

Heading a high-ranking delegation Iraqi PM arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day official visit.

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