Major General Hossein Salami made the statement on Sunday after Washington accused Tehran of assisting Yemen’s Houthis (Ansarullah) in their recent anti-Israeli operations and called for a halt on Iran’s alleged support for the group.
“Iran will never be the initiator of war, but in the event of a threat, the response will be firm, decisive and conclusive,” Salami said.
“The president of the United States has once again attributed the operations carried out by the Yemen’s Ansarullah to Iran and has warned the Iranian people to stop their support for the resistance group.”
Stressing that the Yemenis are an independent and free nation in their land and pursue independent policies, the IRGC chief added, “Iran openly and clearly accepts responsibility for any actions it takes, when and where they occur.”
“We are not a nation that operates under the cloak of secrecy; rather, we are a legitimate and globally recognized entity. When we undertake any military action or lend our support, we will declare it openly and unequivocally.”
Earlier on Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced on X that he had ordered the United States military to launch “decisive and powerful military action” against the Yemeni fighters.
Yemen’s Armed Forces began striking strategic and sensitive Israeli sites in November 2023 after the regime launched a US-backed genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and ratcheted up its restrictions on the entry of direly needed food, medicine, and other key supplies into the coastal sliver.
The Yemeni strikes, alongside the targeting of Israeli-owned and -bound ships and vessels in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, delivered a crushing blow to the regime’s economy.
In a ceremony commemorating the sacrifices of the martyrs of East Azerbaijan Province in its capital city of Tabriz on Saturday evening, the IRGC’s chief commander also warned that the Islamic Republic would give a “devastating” response to any threats.
Salami emphasized that the Iranian nation is fully determined to defend its interests, values, identity, and legitimacy.
“We will stand firmly against any threat, and if any threat is carried out, we will respond in the most severe manner— a decisive, crushing, and destructive response,” he stated.
“The enemy is repeating its past mistakes and fails to learn from the lessons of Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Afghanistan. It continues on the same erroneous path, which will ultimately lead to its defeat,” he added.
Salami highlighted that the enemy “deceitfully” speaks of direct negotiations while simultaneously issuing threats.
“This clearly shows that they do not truly understand the Iranian nation, while the Iranian nation, in turn, deeply recognizes its enemy and will never be deceived by their superficial words,” he noted.
Salami further asserted that it was the United States that tore up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement and turned toward aggressive and violent measures such as pressure, sanctions, and threats.
Salami was referring to Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from the JCPOA and impose a series of illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Highlighting the importance of learning from past experiences, he said, “if we do not learn from bitter experiences, we will be forced to repeat them.”
Last week, Trump claimed in an interview with Fox News that he had sent a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, warning Iran to open talks on a nuclear deal or be handled militarily.
Ayatollah Khamenei has said Trump’s proposal for negotiations is “a deception” that is only meant to create the impression that Iran refuses to negotiate.
He added Iran negotiated with the US for several years in the past, but “this same person (Trump) threw off the table and tore apart the concluded, finalized, and signed negotiations.”
