Holly Dagres
Despite the severe weakening of the Iran-led Resistance Axis[i] in recent months, Tehran continues to seek to show itself projecting power. According to state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, on 6 January, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman and deputy of public relations Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini said, “We tell the enemy that we are always ready to act at the moment,” adding, “When the command is given, we will demonstrate our power as before and change the enemy’s cognition and calculations once again.” The comments were made at an armed forces presser for the Eghtedar drill[ii] on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. assassination of IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.
Naeini emphasized that Iran’s enemies—the United States and Israel—have “a false enthusiasm and misconception” of recent regional developments. Particularly, he noted their use of “psychological and cognitive warfare” to hide the truth, which, in Tehran’s mind, is that it continues to be in a position of strength. Naeini appeared to be referring to the major setbacks experienced by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, as well as the ouster of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Despite these major blows to the Resistance Axis, the IRGC spokesman argued, “We never had an intelligence defeat from the enemy. It’s the enemy that always engages with cognitive warfare to make up for its intelligence and military defeats.”
No comments:
Post a Comment