IRGC Spokesman Says Iran Missiles Can Destroy US Multilayered Air Defenses

Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, the spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Iran's missiles are capable of destroying multilayered American air-defense systems, according to Mehr News. He described Iran as the victor of the recent war and said the Islamic Republic was converting that victory into "permanent strategic deterrence."

Mohebbi said the United States had expected Iran to surrender after deploying military forces to the Persian Gulf, but instead encountered a different form of Iranian resistance. He referred to at least 100 waves of retaliatory strikes that the Iranian Armed Forces staged in response to what he described as the latest unprovoked American-Israeli aggression, as well as reprisals against American violations committed after Washington was forced to announce a ceasefire.

The IRGC spokesman pointed to Iran's closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation and its refusal to reopen the chokepoint as long as violations persisted. He identified freedom of navigation through the strait as one of the US's stated objectives and argued that Washington had failed to achieve it during the aggression. "Despite having the world's largest navy, the United States was unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz open even for a few hours," he said. Mohebbi added that the United States claimed the strait was open in order to prevent oil prices from rising, while control of the waterway was in the hands of the IRGC's naval forces. According to Mohebbi, before the war, dozens to more than 100 vessels passed through the strait each day, but currently only oil tankers belonging to Iran's trading partners were permitted to pass, and only with Tehran's permission.

Mohebbi also addressed US claims of military and technological superiority, saying Washington had used propaganda to try to project an image of capability. However, during the recent war, advanced US air, naval, and ground equipment came under retaliatory attacks by Iran's Armed Forces, he said. He asserted that the Islamic Republic would not stop punishing the US until its seven conditions were fulfilled, and expressed confidence in Iranian missiles' capability to destroy multilayered American air-defense systems.

Recently, Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the country had declared its conditions for renewed talks with the United States, saying that Washington should agree to Tehran's terms if it wanted to escape the quagmire of its war of aggression against the Islamic Republic. The report by Mehr News added that Mohebbi made these remarks amid ongoing tensions.