In an address to a Tuesday seminar in Tehran, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, said the idea of coordination with the American warships in the region is ridiculous for Iran.
“If our oil platforms in the Persian Gulf come under terrorists’ attacks, can we hold the foreign warships in the region responsible?” he asked.
“Can the Iranians expect the foreigners to provide the security of their oil platforms in the region?” he added, according to a Farsi report by the Fars News Agency.
He went on saying that as an independent state, Iran presses ahead with defending itself and its borders within international law.
“At present, we are facing various military threats and the enemies are seeking to inflict blows on us,” he said.
The Iranian commander stressed that Iran preserves all legal rights for self-defence, adding, “Recently the arrogant entities made uproar by claiming that Iranian vessels had approached American warships in the Persian Gulf in a move to begin a battle.”
Major General Baqeri said based on international law, the shores of Persian Gulf belong to the Islamic Republic of Iran. ”Unfortunately a country from tens of thousands of miles away has deployed warships in the Persian Gulf and preserves special rights for itself. And now it says that if your vessels want to come close to our warships you need to make arrangements.”
“This is a clear example of double oppression in the international law,” he said.
Elsewhere in his statements, he said that Iran secures its air borders within the laws of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). “If a plane violates Iran’s air space, our air defence forces will warn it immediately to leave the space.
However, he noted, unfortunately the arrogant powers make uproar that Iran has threatened a foreign plane. Anyhow, the enemies of Iran must know that warning is the softest reactions that we show against the foreign planes’ illegal entry into our air space.
He referred to the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the world powers and said since the beginning of the nuclear talks, Iran had stressed that the deal has nothing to do with its defensive capabilities.
“But step by step they set conditions for us saying you are not allowed to make missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Then they said you are not allowed to make any missile of any type,” he said.
General Baqeri noted that international law requires all countries to respect others’ sovereignty, avoid interferences in others’ internal affairs and fight terrorism.
“Unfortunately some big powers in the world violate the very principles which they themselves have set,” the commander stressed.
The Iranian commander referred to the wars underway in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain and Myanmar and said none of the world powers have yet observed the international law in the mentioned countries.
“During Iran-Iraq war, we saw that Iraq violated Iran’s sovereignty defying a demarcation deal between the two sides. And the main question lingering in mind is that why the big powers never blamed Iraq for such violence? On the contrary, they equipped it with the latest chemical bombs to target our people,” he concluded.
