‘US Out to Manage Daesh Not Remove It’

A senior Iranian commander has questioned the authenticity of the United States’ so-called battle against the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in the region, saying Washington seeks to only be able to manage the group and not eliminate it.

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Qassem Soleimani said Wednesday that the policy of the US with regards to Daesh and other Takfiri groups operating in the region is to only have them under control and not eliminate them.

Soleimani, who was addressing the 21st annual gathering of IRGC commanders in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said Washington wants the countries hit by terrorism to turn to the US for help in tackling the phenomenon.

The Iranian commander also stated that Washington seeks to counter Iran through movements within the geographical areas where the Islamic Republic maintains its influence.

The United States is after regaining its power in the region, and this may be the reason behind Washington’s insistence on an agreement with Iran over its nuclear energy program, Soleimani said.

For months, Washington and its allies have been launching attacks on alleged positions of Daesh in north Iraq and Syria as a bid to block the group’s advance in the two countries. However, many are suspicious of the attacks, saying the US is not serious enough in fighting Daesh and other Takfiri groups.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, namely the US, Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia, reached an agreement in Vienna in mid-July whereby the global powers agreed to lift the international sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions imposed on the country’s nuclear program.

Almost impossible to counter Iran’s unique missile

On the other hand,a senior Iranian commander has revealed that the country is in possession of a “unique” missile that is all but impossible to defend against.

“We have a unique ballistic missile, which might be owned only by the US and Russia; and countering this missile is almost impossible,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the second-in-command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said on Wednesday.

The commander further said that the IRGC is in possession of drones with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers and with reconnaissance and offensive capabilities.

Elsewhere, Salami said the US bases in the region are within the range of Iranian ballistic missiles, adding that the movements of foreign forces in the waters near Iran are under the close surveillance of the force.

“Each US airbase, whose aircraft have the capability to reach Iran’s skies, as well as their aircraft carriers are within the range of Iran’s precision and unique ballistic missiles and drones,” Salami said.

“We monitor around the clock all movements [in] the Persian Gulf, the Oman Sea, part of the Indian Ocean, and anywhere that directly or indirectly concerns our national security,” the Iranian commander said.

The monitoring is carried out by intelligence-security patrols, drones, modern radars, and highly complicated equipment of electronic warfare.

Back in August, Iran unveiled a new solid-fuel precision-guided missile named Fateh 313. The domestically-developed missile has a range of 500 kilometers.

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

The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly assured other nations, especially regional neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.

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