Mohsen Rezaei, a former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) and now a member of the Expediency Council, said in a televised interview with IRIB on Thursday that the Israeli regime had assumed that by eliminating a number of top Iranian military commanders, it would cripple military decision-making in Iran.
“But that did not come to pass; and under the command of the Supreme Leader, all activities proceeded with strength,” Rezaei said.
“The Israelis thought that they had targeted [and knocked out Iranian allies in] Lebanon and Syria and that they somehow had aerial superiority. They had confidence in their cyber capabilities and in their infiltration of Iran. They thought that by martyring [Ismail] Haniyeh and Iran’s nuclear scientists, they were going to have an easy job ahead. The regime also had full confidence in its defense systems, such as ‘Iron Dome,’ which you saw what Iran’s military might brought upon it,” he said.
In the punitive strikes that Iran began on Israel, victories were achieved, the biggest of which was that Iran became the first country to successfully foil Israeli calculations and prevent the Tel Aviv regime from reaching its objectives, he said. “No government had pulled that off to this day. Israel’s calculations turned out to be right with countries including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and any country that it attacked — not with Iran, though.”
He said Israeli leaders have asked U.S. President Donald Trump to either go to their aid or somehow have a ceasefire announced. “They are entangled in a crisis. We have the upper hand,” he said, adding, however, that the punishment of Israel was yet to be carried out fully.
Rezaei said later strikes must be strong enough to provide deterrence and ensure Iran’s future safety.
The Israeli regime attacked Iran, including residential buildings in Tehran, in an unprovoked act of aggression overnight on June 13. Top Iranian military officials were assassinated in targeted strikes. Civilians died when houses were directly struck. Entire population centers were affected.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed new military commanders later that same day and said life would turn bleak for Israel. Shortly afterwards, the Iranian Armed Forces promised to “open the gates of hell” to Israel and began waves of punitive strikes inside the Israeli-occupied territories, hitting sensitive sites in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, among other cities, with salvos of missiles and drones. Despite heavy Israeli censorship, abundant footage has appeared of the Iranian missiles hitting their targets in precision strikes and wreaking mayhem.
Life has come to a halt in the occupied territories as Israelis spend day and night in underground bomb shelters. Many Israelis are paying large sums of money to smugglers to take them to Greece and Cyprus by boat.
Iranian officials have said the mission will continue as long as necessary.
Bending under the Iranian strikes, the Israeli regime has been attempting to coax the United States into joining the war of aggression on Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei has warned the United States that its potential intervention would bring America “irreparable harm.”
