Commander: IRGC Protecting Islands

[SHAHED]

TEHRAN (Fars) -- A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps on Monday underlined the strategic importance of the Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, saying the IRGC has deployed forces and equipment in the islands to defend them.
"Various types of offensive and defensive systems, including brigades of IRGC marines, have been deployed in the Iranian islands, especially in Bu Musa, the Lesser Tunb and the Greater Tunb," commander of IRGC's naval forces Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said.
"Owing to the position of these islands, both in terms of defense and offense, the IRGC navy will allow no enemy to step onto these islands and even enter their territorial waters," Fadavi stated, adding, "In case of any hostile move, aggressors will face a strong response."
He further reiterated Iran's sovereignty over the three islands.
The UAE has recently raised some unfounded claims on three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf.
After Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Bu Musa earlier this month, the UAE recalled its ambassador from Tehran in protest at Ahmadinejad's official trip to the Iranian island.
Then on April 13, the foreign ministers of the six-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) held an emergency meeting in Doha and issued a statement against the Iranian President's visit to the Iranian island.
In reply, Iran said that the visit is an issue related to its state sovereignty.
A senior Iranian analyst and researcher praised the Iranian navy for its might and power in safeguarding the country's security, saying no country with even the most powerful fleets of warships can stand against Iran in the Persian Gulf.
"Given the fact that the Persian Gulf, unlike oceans, is limited in width and area and Iran has a highly functional and efficient power which is suitable for this region, huge fleets of warships are not able to confront Iran and they will be vulnerable," head of the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute Ayatollah Seyyed Muhammad Khamenei said.
He reiterated that the power balance between the two sides of a war should not merely be evaluated on the basis of the number of war tools and equipment or their quality, preciseness and speed, but other factors and parameters are also important.
Khamenei described the high morale of the Iranian forces as a winning card for the Iranian side in any war, and said the U.S. forces deployed in the region are tired and depressed and cannot be counted on for fighting in a serious war.
He also referred to the sympathy of the regional youth as well as military and political activists for Iran, and said many of them have risen for the Islamic Awakening and share the same religion, ideology and goals with Iran and they can be considered as Iran and Islam's soldiers and will enter the scene for Iran in case of any war.
Khamenei stressed the Iranian identity of the Persian Gulf, and stated that the sea has been under Iran's sovereignty for, at least, over 2,500 years.
"The Persian Gulf is a complete example of a historical gulf and has been under the sovereignty of Iran and Iranian governments for, at least, 2,500 years," he said.
"Even, it has been the history and not the Iranian people or government, which has put the name of the Persian Gulf on this sea. This is a crystal clear fact for historians and international lawyers," Khamenei added.

Arab Awakening

The researcher underlined the regional Arab nations' discontent with their pro-western governments, but reiterated that Iran has never had a hand or interfered with popular uprisings against these regional rulers, otherwise such Arab rulers would be toppled in less than a week.
"As a western researcher has said 'if Iran intended to interfere in the neighboring states and helped them (their opposition forces), no government would survive (even) one single week'," he said.
"All strategists know that the ideological power is more important than the military power," Khamenei said. "And Iran is united with all the regional Arab nations only ideologically" but only ideologically and this does not mean physical interference in their affairs.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the situation in Qatar which has been experiencing critical conditions after a recent coup attempt against Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and said the event indicated that the regional Muslim nations are tired of their rulers and in case of any conflict, the brave military personnel of those countries will desert their rulers.
He blasted Arab rulers for resorting to the U.S. and other military forces for protecting their regimes, and said, "The presence of the U.S. or other non-Muslim alien forces in the region means confrontation against Arab and Muslim nations and defending puppet, tyrannical and cruel rulers, and strengthens and provokes civil wars and massacres."

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