A military advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warns that an act of military aggression by the US against Iran that could lead to an even limited conflict is likely to set off a full-scale war that would afflict other parts of the region too.<\/p>\n
The remarks were made by Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, defense minister during President Hassan Rouhani\u2019s previous tenure and former commander of the Air Force of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). He made the comments to the Associated Press on Wednesday that the news agency published a day later.<\/p>\n
\u201cA limited, tactical conflict can turn into a full-fledged war,\u201d Dehqan said.<\/p>\n
He, however, not only clearly distanced Iran from any intention to trigger such a conflict, but also cautioned strongly about such confrontation\u2019s repercussions for the region and, by extension, the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t welcome a crisis. We don\u2019t welcome war. We are not after starting a war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely, the United States, the region, and the world cannot stand such a comprehensive crisis,\u201d the military expert noted.<\/p>\n
He, accordingly, warned against any American military escalation in President Donald Trump\u2019s final weeks in office.<\/p>\n
Dehqan, meanwhile, addressed the likelihood of fresh negotiations with the U.S. and the quality that such talks could partake of.<\/p>\n
He reminded that the U.S.\u2019 atrocities under Trump had made it extremely difficult for Iran to accept its return to the negotiation table. Among the rest, he referred to the U.S.\u2019 assassination of Iran\u2019s senior anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani on Trump\u2019s direct order near Baghdad airport in January.<\/p>\n
He called the IRGC\u2019s retaliatory missile strikes against U.S. bases in Iraq that came almost immediately after the assassination a mere \u201cinitial slap,\u201d and asserted that the Islamic Republic continued to seek the expulsion of all American forces from the region as revenge for the barbaric assassination.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not seek a situation in which [the other party] buys time to weaken our nation,\u201d he also said \u2014 apparently signaling that Tehran would not tolerate any American trickery in the event of any fresh talks \u2014 and said, \u201cWe are not after negotiations for the sake of negotiations either.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official also warned about Israel\u2019s regional expansionist ambitions that saw the regime normalizing its relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan earlier in the year. Dehqan warned that the ambitious march was a \u201cstrategic mistake\u201d that could put Tel Aviv in a parlous state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is opening an extensive front,\u201d he said. \u201cJust imagine every Israeli in any military base can be a target for groups who are opposed to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separately, the official said the United Nations nuclear agency could keep monitoring Iran\u2019s nuclear activities as long as no inspector is a \u201cspy.\u201d He was seemingly referring to a case of apparent attempted sabotage last year that came amid the US and Israel\u2019s escalated attempts at demonizing Iran\u2019s nuclear energy program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A military advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warns that an act of military aggression by the US against Iran that could lead to an even limited conflict is likely to set off a full-scale war that would afflict other parts of the region too. The remarks were made by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,1,6],"tags":[469,1427,28,290,165,639,178,84,371,168,27,382,638],"yoast_head":"\n