IRANIAN MILITARY CHIEF WARNS OF STRONGER RESPONSE TO NEW ATTACK

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said on Tuesday that another attack on Iran would draw a “more forceful response”. He spoke during a visit to military production facilities, where he inspected Army drone manufacturing. Abdollahi also commands the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. He said Iran’s forces would defend the country’s territory and revolutionary values against any power that threatened them.

Abdollahi said the Army had established and expanded several drone production lines. “What I saw today at one of the many drone production facilities developed through the efforts of my colleagues in the Islamic Republic of Iran Army reflects the readiness, motivation and innovative capabilities that our armed forces need,” he said. He said Iranian specialists had upgraded military equipment and given it capabilities beyond those of earlier models. Abdollahi credited the military’s pursuit of self-sufficiency to a direction set by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, whom he described as a supporter of national strength and technological advancement.

Abdollahi said lessons from recent wars with the United States and Israel had better equipped Iran to counter future attacks. “Our enemies possess modern and advanced equipment, and when necessary, we must respond using different methods and asymmetric capabilities,” he said. He said Iran could deploy a range of less expensive systems against adversaries with more advanced weapons. Abdollahi said that approach would make military operations costlier and more difficult for those adversaries.