Top Commander Highlights Iran’s Powerful Response to US, Israeli Aggression
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said the enemy launched the imposed war against Iran back in June by betraying the path of diplomacy but received a powerful and crushing response from the country’s Armed Forces.
Speaking in a meeting with Russian Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev in Tehran on Thursday, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said Iran has proven to the world that it has never been the initiator of war, he said, adding that Tehran considers “diplomacy and negotiations” to be the best solutions to the problems.
"The enemy used negotiations as a cover for deception and launched the imposed war against Iran by betraying the path of diplomacy,” Mousavi explained.
“However, Iran’s Armed Forces powerfully gave a firm and crushing response to the United States and the Zionist regime,” the top general emphasized, Press TV reported.
On June 13, Israel launched a blatant and unprovoked aggression against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that killed at least 1,064 people in the country, including military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians.
The United States also entered the war by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites in a grave violation of international law.
In response, the Iranian Armed Forces targeted strategic sites across the occupied territories as well as the al-Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest American military base in West Asia.
On June 24, Iran, through its successful retaliatory operations against both the Israeli regime and the US, managed to impose a halt to the terrorist assault.
Major General Mousavi also said Russia adopted a “very good and firm” stance at the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency against Israel’s 12-day war on the Islamic Republic.
He added that Iran and Russia have numerous capacities to develop cooperation despite the West’s tough sanctions against the two countries.
Iran and Russia, as two close and strategic allies, have strengthened their relations in various fields, despite the heavy Western sanctions.
The Russian energy minister, for his part, said Tehran and Moscow need to increase economic and defense cooperation to the highest level.
Tsivilev added that he agrees with the proposal to expand relevant commissions to improve the level of cooperation.
A day earlier, the Russian energy minister also met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
During the meeting, Pezeshkian said a “successful” model of cooperation among independent countries, including Iran and Russia, will prove that the era of unilateralism in the world is over.