The warning comes amid worsening US-Iranian ties which became further aggravated after Iran downed a US spy drone late last month inside what Tehran says was Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf. Washington, however, insists that the downing occurred in international airspace.
Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has pledged that Iran would do its best to avoid a military conflict but that it will not think twice before retaliating in response to foreign aggression.
“Just as we will watch for the breakout of a war with intelligence command, prudence and power, we are much more ready and agile than the past to inflict heavy costs on the aggressor and will make a quick decision [in this vein]”, Ali Rashid said during a visit to Iranian naval units near the Strait of Hormuz.
He reiterated that Iran's response to any possible intrusion on its Persian Gulf islands as well as its maritime and aerial borders would be “powerful”, forcing the potential aggressors to regret their actions.
Ali Rashid also warned that “should there ever be a war, nobody will be in control of either its duration or its scope”.
He also voiced hope that the US and its allies had learned lessons from their “mistake” in invading Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2001, respectively.
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