MP: US Well Aware of Iran’s Military Capabilities

Member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini on Friday the recent claims made by US Special Representative Brian Hook about Tehran's military achievements runs counter to Washington's claims about Iran's military might.

News ID: 445427

Date: 15 June 2019 - 23:36

RNA - Naqavi Hosseini said Hook downplays Tehran’s advancements in defense and missile industries after all the hypes by the US and the Westerners about Iran’s military threat to the world.

Rejecting Hook's allegations, the MP reassured that Washington is fully aware of Tehran’s military capabilities.

“Such stances reveal how paradoxical Westerners are in their behaviors,” the legislator said, after the US Special Representative for Iran claimed in a video last week that "Iran has photoshopped images of missile launches to try and show its increased missile capabilities..." and "have also photoshopped antiquated aircraft and tried to pass them off as new stealth fighter jets".

The veteran Iranian lawmaker reminded that “the Americans and Westerners have stirred up a commotion and voiced concern about the progress and developments in Iran’s missile industry, but after a display of Iran’s achievements to the whole world, they are denying them now”.

The Special Representative happens to be remarkably inconsistent in his assessment of the Iranian military. In 2018 Brian Hook warned that "the Iranian threat is growing" and that the World is "accumulating the risk of escalation." The discrepancy was not missed by some social media users either.

In another video, Hook said that Tehran faked its achievements in the fight against the ISIL terrorist group.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

On Saturday, former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezayee stressed Iran's high defense capabilities, saying that the US fears any war against the country as any such military conflict will set fire to the entire region.

According to Fars News Agancy, Rezayee, also the secretary of Iran's Expediency Council (EC), warned that any war against Iran would not stop at the Islamic Republic's borders, and it would involve all countries in the entire Middle East region.

“(US President Donald) Trump and his team have recently said they want to economically pressure Iran and are not seeking any military confrontation with the country,” he said.

“This is because they cannot (enter a war with Iran),” Rezayee said, adding, “They would if they could.”

The rhetoric and threats of a war against Iran have ebbed because Trump and his administration are well aware of Iran’s defense power and military achievements, and they know that any war on Iran will not be confined to Iran's borders, he said.

He also condemned the United States for imposing fresh sanctions on the country’s petrochemical industry, saying that the US policy of maximum pressure, which has repeatedly been tested by former presidents, is doomed to failure.

847/940