Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian Army Ground Force Commander Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said Tehran and Washington share the same redline which is Israel.
" America 's redline is the occupier Israeli regime and we also have problems with Israel," the Iranian commander said, semi-official Fars news agency reported Sept. 2.
"You can speak about everything in the US and even films are produced against their clerics. However, saying any single word and publishing any material against Israel is forbidden."
Iran cut off all official relations with Israel following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials in various occasions have expressed anti-Israeli statements. The statements grew harsher during former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration when he said Israel should be "wiped off the world map".
Pourdasatan further commented on the recent regional developments saying that Washington is following a strategy of establishing various religious groups to unleash religion-against-religion conflicts.
"Although the Daesh (Islamic State, also known as ISIL) tried to advance closer to the Iranian borders, owning to the vigilance of the armed forces it could not do anything," he said while addressing a gathering of high-ranking commanders.
Iranian Army Commander also said on May 24 that last year the Islamic State group intended to enter Iran, adding that they had forecast caches of ammunition and troops on Iran's border provinces and were ready to launch terrorist operations, explosions and riots after entering Iran 's territory.
Pourdastan described the problems in the relations of Tehran and Washington as deep-rooted and downplayed the impact of the nuclear deal on the bilateral ties.
Edited by CN