Iran Guards Vow Response to 'Any Action'

Iran

January 2nd, 10:18am

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: Hossein Salami speaks during Tehran's Friday prayers July 16, 2010. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami vowed Saturday to respond to any "action the enemy takes," amid rising tensions with the US. Salami was speaking on the eve of the first anniversary of the US killing of top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike on January 3, 2020. "We would respond with a reciprocal, decisive and strong blow to whatever action the enemy would take against us," Salami warned. Tensions have been building up in the run-up to the anniversary of Soleimani's killing, with two American B-52 bombers recently flying over the region. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday accused outgoing US President Donald Trump of aiming to fabricate a "pretext for war" after Trump blamed Tehran for a rocket strike on the US embassy in Baghdad on December 20. The US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has been patrolling Gulf waters since late November, but American media said this week that the acting US defense secretary, Christopher C. Miller, had ordered the Nimitz to return home. The New York Times, quoting US officials, said this move was part of a "de-escalatory" signal to Tehran to avoid a conflict in Trump's last days in office. Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran and world powers in 2018 and launched a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, reimposing and reinforcing crippling sanctions. The two countries have twice come to the brink of war since June 2019, especially following the killing of Soleimani.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2716991/iran-guards-vow-response-any-action