IRGC chief warns any country that attacks Iran will be ‘main battlefield’
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned
Saturday that any country that attacks the Islamic republic will see its
territory turn into the conflict's “main battlefield.”
“Whoever wants their land to become the main
battlefield, go ahead,” Guards commander Hossein Salami told a news conference
in Tehran. “We will never allow any war to encroach upon Iran's territory.”
Salami's statements come after Iran came under fire
after recent attacks that targeted Saudi Aramco's oil facilities on September
14. The United States has said that initial investigations of the attacks show
that Iran was in some way responsible. Iran denies any responsibility.
“Be careful, a limited aggression will not remain
limited. We are after punishment and we will continue until the full
destruction of any aggressor,” Salami, said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
Salami added that Iran will continue to down drones
that “violate its airspace.”
A US military drone had been shot down in
international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air
missile in June.
The US military confirmed the incident and said that
it took place in international airspace, challenging Iran’s account that the US
aircraft had been flying over Iranian territory.
