Basij Commander: Iran Not to Accept Imposed N. Deal
(FNA)- Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi reiterated Tehran's opposition to any nuclear agreement with the world powers which doesn’t remove all sanctions against the country, cautioning that Washington cannot impose its will on Iran.
"The enemies should know that the Iranian nation will not accept any imposed deal which questions its honor and dignity and doesn't remove all sanctions," Naqdi said, addressing a congress in the Southern province of Khuzestan on Tuesday.
He, meantime, downplayed the US and Israel's threats against Iran, and said if Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei issues a fatwa (religious decree) for Jihad, no weapon, even atomic bombs, can prevent the Islamic Ummah's revenge.
He underlined that the result of the enemies' possible aggression against Iran will be a crushing response and "conquering the Beit al-Moqaddas".
In relevant remarks today, Naqdi said Washington which hires drug trafficker and criminals for fighting in the battleground cannot overcome Tehran in any possible war.
"They (the Americans) have said that no option has been taken off the table, and we tell them that the US can utter such words whenever it can recruit a group of fighters ready to sacrifice themselves for the US," Naqdi told reporters in Khuzestan.
Stressing that the US firms hire drug trafficker and criminals for fighting in the battlefield, he said, "A country, which cannot recruit a group of forces who love defending the US, shouldn’t brag like this."
Also today, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, when asked to comment on Kerry's remarks that the US is testing the diplomatic way to prevent military action against Iran, warned that such comments are not helpful to the settlement of the nuclear standoff.
Yesterday, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri played down Kerry's comments against Iran, stressing Tehran's preparedness to give a crushing response to any aggressor.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will show its real might to the Americans if the US makes any stupid military move," Brigadier General Jazzayeri said on Sunday night in reaction to Kerry's recent statements against Iran.
Kerry in an interview with ABC news said that he could not promise about striking a deal with Iran, but "we are going to test whether or not diplomacy can prevent this weapon from being created, so you don't have to turn to additional measures including the possibility of a military confrontation."
Brigadier General Jazzayeri pointed to Iran's military might and preparedness, and said, "In case of military confrontation, we will act in a way that we will get rid of the US forever."
"Kerry's stupidity is to such an extent that he thinks the Islamic Republic of Iran will relinquish its interests through military threats," Brigadier General Jazzayeri added.
He underlined that Iran's reinforced defense and large-scale and widespread air defense will force the US to exit the strategic region of Western Asia.
In related development on Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader's top aide Ali Akbar Velayati slammed senior US negotiator Wendy Sherman for her hostile remarks against Tehran amidst the nuclear talks, and said the country will never give up its rights even under harsher sanctions.
"She always makes her statements in such a way that the radical side of the public opinion in the US would not criticize the Obama administration in response; this is while the current US government has also sometimes uttered contradictory words in its positions, but she (Sherman) is person known for her radical and irrational positions," Velayati told reporters after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tehran.
"Therefore, we should tell her and others to know that the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its honorable life with or without sanctions; it is natural for Iran to try to remove the sanctions, but it will never withdraw from its principled positions due to the cruel sanctions," he added.
His remarks came after US Under Secretary of State, Sherman, said that sanctions against Iran should continue.
She made the remarks as senior officials from Iran and the six world powers will hold more talks in Montreux, Switzerland, on March 5, according to a Saturday announcement by the European Union (EU).
The talks between political directors will be preceded by a series of bilateral meetings between Iran and some of the members of the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) starting today.