Pordestan: The Leader Has Said to View Surrounding Wars as Exercises

Ahmadreza Pordestan, the commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, states that the Leader of the Islamic Republic has instructed the armed forces to 'view the wars occurring around you as exercises and take advantage of them.' According to the official news agency IRNA, Major General Pordestan mentioned on November 25 that 'the First and Second Gulf Wars, the war in Afghanistan, and the presence of terrorist groups like the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Al-Nusra were all experiences from which we should analyze the environment to create appropriate defensive capabilities.' This senior military commander asserts that the armed forces have worked on this both 'in terms of software' and 'hardware.' He states that they have prepared 'regulations' that consider weapons 'to enhance readiness for war against terrorist, Takfiri, and proxy groups.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused some countries in the region and the world of attempting to 'bring proxy wars to Iran's borders.' At the end of May, the Leader of the Islamic Republic stated in a speech, 'I have information that enemies, in collaboration with some foolish officials in the Persian Gulf region, are trying to bring proxy wars to Iran's borders.' He then warned, 'They should know that if any mischief occurs, Iran's reaction will be very severe.' Khamenei did not provide further details on this matter. The commander of the Ground Forces mentioned in an interview with Al-Alam that 'the artillery we have today is designed for this environment (proxy wars) and increases unit mobility.' In response to a question about the impact of lifting sanctions related to the nuclear program on arms imports to Iran, he stated, 'To enhance our defensive capacity and capability, we will use any means available in the world.' Major General Pordestan emphasized that Iran will not initiate any war, and its weapons are 'not for aggression.' In another part of his remarks, like other senior military and political officials in Iran, he again warned Saudi Arabia that 'it will certainly suffer more casualties and losses in Yemen.' Saudi Arabia is one of the fiercest critics of Iran's policies in the region, and its foreign minister recently stated that the region views Iran as an 'occupier' of Arab lands. Tehran denies involvement in the situation in Yemen or the future of Syria but has not hidden its support for the Houthi groups and has confirmed that it has military advisors in support of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria. On the other hand, Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of not pursuing necessary policies for achieving peace and security in the region and considers its attacks on Yemen as 'aggression' against that country. Saudi Arabia is one of the most important allies of the United States in West Asia. A coalition led by the U.S. has conducted attacks on the self-proclaimed Islamic government and extremist groups in Syria and Iraq over the past year. Washington, meanwhile, seeks a role for Russia and Iran in ending the Syrian crisis. Russia has recently begun airstrikes in support of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria. The U.S. and some of its Western allies have warned that most of these attacks have targeted groups other than the 'Islamic government' and extremist groups. The foreign ministers of the U.S. and Russia recently met and discussed the Syrian crisis. In this context, the holding of two military exercises by the Iranian army in response to 'proxy wars' in the region emphasizes Khamenei's advisor on 'coordination' between Iran and Russia in Syria, Khamenei's warning to Saudi Arabia: our reaction will be harsh and severe, and Khamenei's repeated warning: negotiations with the U.S. are forbidden.