IRGC: Iran’s defense capabilities ‘non-negotiable’

“National security and defense and military power are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances,” Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini said on Tuesday ahead of the second round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Oman.

He was speaking during a press conference marking the first anniversary of Iran’s first anti-Israel operation in April 2024 that involved the firing of more than 300 drones and missiles at military bases in the occupied territories.

Dubbed True Promise I, the operation came less than two weeks after a terrorist Israeli strike killed seven IRGC members at Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Naeini hailed the retaliatory attack as the world’s largest drone operation, with a flight radius of more than 1,000 kilometers.

The operation “displayed Iran’s initiative and asymmetric offensive capability to strike the Zionist enemy and was the first direct and public military confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the Zionist regime,” he added.

The IRGC spokesman also noted that True Promise I also demonstrated Iran’s firm will to respond decisively to Israel, as well as the Armed Forces’ power to confront the terrorist regime.

The anti-Israel raid, he emphasized, was a completely legitimate operation that was carried based on Article 51 of the UN Charter.

It exposed Israel’s weak security foundation, proved Iran’s offensive capabilities as a missile and drone power in the region and the world, and instilled a sense of hope in the resilient Palestinian nation and the oppressed people of Gaza, Naeini noted.

In October 2024, Iran launched a second anti-Israel operation in retaliation for the regime’s assassination of resistance commanders.

Later that month, Israeli warplanes used the space available to the US military in Iraq to fire missiles at military installations in Iran in flagrant violation of the international law and the UN Charter.

The Israeli act of aggression was successfully intercepted and countered by Iran’s air defense system. Iran has vowed a third anti-Israel operation in response to the assault.