IRAN GENERAL: WE NEED LESS THAN 12 MINUTES TO TAKE CONTROL OF MIDDLE EAST
IRAN GENERAL ALI JAFARI: WE NEED LESS THAN 12 MINUTES TO TAKE CONTROL OF MIDDLE EAST
On Oct 13, 2018
Iran has promised an overwhelming response to the threats even “outside its borders,” requiring “less than 12 minutes” to take control of the Middle East, according to a military commander in Iran.
Iran would respond overwhelmingly to any threat to its security, even if its enemies are “outside its borders,” said the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, to the Almasirah Channel on Friday.
The Iranian military commented on Trump’s remarks from Tuesday where the US president claimed that Tehran planned to take control of the Middle East in just “12 minutes.”
“Look at Iran, Before I got there (to the White House), Iran was going to take (control) the Middle East in about 12 minutes, right?” Trump said at an election rally held on Tuesday in the city of Council Bluffs in the state of Iowa (center-north).
The US president said that since the beginning of his administration in January 2017, the Iranian authorities “are trying to survive”, while there are “riots” in each of their cities.
The Iranian general however hit back at Trump’s comments.
“While in the past we could defend the Middle East, and not impose our hegemony across the region in 12 minutes [as Trump mentioned], today we can do it more quickly,” the Iranian general said.
Commenting on US sanctions against Iran, he said Iranians have become accustomed to unilateral sanctions.
“Despite sanctions, we have been able to achieve self-sufficiency and strengthen our national solidarity,” said Mohammad Ali Jafari.
He was speaking a few weeks after the IRGC fired several ground-to-surface missiles in response to the recent attack on Ahvaz, which killed 25 and wounded 69.
The Iranian commander said the retaliatory attack was only Tehran’s first revenge against those who orchestrated the Ahvaz attack, which Tehran blames the “regional sponsors of terrorism” and their “American patrons.”
With regard to the ‘less than 12 minutes’ statement, it is in all probability that the IRGC general was being facetious and bombastic, in an attempt to ridicule Trump and make a testament to Iran’s resolve and determination, and should not be taken as a literal statement of fact.
