‘Iran No Longer Sees US Forces in Mideast as Ordinary Soldiers’

Seyyed Abbas Araqchi made the comment after the White House put Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

“From now on, US troops in the [Middle East] region will not be ordinary soldiers from our point of view. They are terrorist forces, and US bases in the region are also terror bases, and the way we deal with them will definitely be different from that of the past,” he said.

He said Iran has sent to the US a clear message in that regard via the embassy of Switzerland, which represents the US interests in Iran.

“Through the Swiss ambassador, we sent a straightforward and direct message to the United States that if it goes ahead with its plan, [Iran’s] reciprocal action will be clear and swift, and the US will be directly responsible for any incident that might happen from then on,” he said, recalling that the Swiss ambassador had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry to be notified of Iran’s message to the US.

“The Americans are responsible for many crimes, including the attack on our passenger plane to the developments in Yemen, Syria, Palestine and support for the ISIS [terror group], and CENTCOM (the US Central Command) and forces affiliated to it are involved in all those [crimes] and can be regarded as terrorist elements,” said the top official.

He said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s letter was in that regard and was confirmed by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

“In a statement, the SNSC introduced CENTCOM and forces affiliated to it as terrorist entities. This move can have severe consequences for the region,” Araqchi noted.

“American forces keep coming to and moving across the Persian Gulf, and it is a duty of the IRGC to safeguard the Persian Gulf,” he noted.