USA09 August, 20263 min read
IRGC Commander Hassan Hassanzadeh Says U.S. and Israel Failed Against Iran
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IRGC claims US and Israel failed to achieve objectives against Iran. IRGC official says US and Israeli leaders have no answer for failures.
IRGC: US, Israel failed
Brig Gen Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran, claimed that the United States and Israel failed to achieve their objectives and were defeated in the war against Iran, according to Tasnim as carried by امید رادیو. Hassanzadeh made the remarks during a visit to Tehran’s air-defense units on Sunday, August 9, and said, “Iran is one of the major powers in the region and the world, and the U.S. and Israeli leaders have no answer for their repeated failures before public opinion, elites, and people in their respective countries,”. The Express Tribune, citing Tasnim News Agency on Saturday, reported that Brig Gen Hassan Zadeh said the US and Israel had “completely failed” to achieve their objectives against the Islamic Republic during a visit to upgraded air defense battalions of the 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division.
The same Express Tribune report said Zadeh credited Iran’s “popular strength and comprehensive readiness of the Basij” for making Iran “one of the major powers in the region and the world,” during the assessment of readiness. ABNA English also quoted Hassanzadeh saying, “Today, the senior officials of the United States and the Israeli regime have no answer to offer public opinion, intellectuals, or their own people for their repeated failures,” during a visit to a local division in the capital on Saturday.
Strait of Hormuz diplomacy
The Express Tribune reported that Iran said a deal on the Strait of Hormuz is close but not enough to open the waterway, and it tied the issue to a wider deal to end the war that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. It said an agreement between Iran and Oman over the strait is seen as vital to normal oil traffic, and it quoted a US official who declined to be identified saying Washington anticipated an agreement soon between Iran and Oman. Iran International reported that Israel’s Channel 13 said Israel is preparing for the possibility of launching unilateral strikes on Iran if the US-Iran war ends, while the Israeli military kept the option of striking Iran without US involvement on the table.
Iran International also said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani discussed efforts to preserve freedom of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz during a phone call on Saturday, Qatar’s state news agency QNA reported. In the same Express Tribune package, it said Iran’s secretary of Iran's top national security body, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, listed demands including ending US threats against Iran and lifting a blockade and sanctions on Iran and freeing Iranian assets.
US munitions push, retaliation
The Express Tribune reported that the Trump administration asked the US defence industry to rapidly escalate the production and delivery of weapons, including munitions in extremely short supply due to the war with Iran, citing a Defence Department memo. It said Deputy Defence Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders last Wednesday that they have to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities” within 21 days. The same Express Tribune report said Iraqi armed group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba leader Akram al-Kaabi promised retaliation for joint Saudi-US strikes last month that hit sites of the country’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), and it quoted him saying, “Missiles can only be countered with missiles, and fire can only be met with fire,”.
Al Jazeera was cited in the Express Tribune report as saying the PMF said at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded in the strikes. In a separate framing, Palestine Chronicle reported that Major General Mohsen Rezaei said Iran had thwarted a US plan to launch a ground offensive during the war, attributing the failure to “miscalculations by commanders at US Central Command,” and it said the plan included attacks on bridges in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province.