Iran's internal threats greater concern than war with US: Commander

A commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday expressed fears of internal threats to the stability of Iran over the possibility of foreign military action.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday expressed fears of internal threats to the stability of Iran over the possibility of foreign military action.

The comments come after US President Donald Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and the IRGC's Qassim Soleimani traded threats of war and insults on Twitter, earlier in the week.

“We do not consider foreign military threats imposed by enemies serious,” since the army “has the power to respond. However, internal weaknesses and threats are more noteworthy,” Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said during a speech made to university students.

"The Revolutionary Guards had only a security and military approach ten years ago, but with the decree of the Supreme Leader, we have entered into realms of jang-e narm (soft war) and cultural invasion."

Since mass protests in 2009, "jang-e narm" is a term that has been used by the country’s ruling class for foreign influences spread through the internet, especially social media. It is characterized by them as detrimental to Iranian culture and national identity.

According to Jafari, the most serious problems of the country are rooted in liberal and western thinking which he said had infested the country like a "parasite."

Jafari stated that the “liberal thoughts” of Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of the Islamic Republic and a strong critic of it, caused "numerous defeats" during the Iran-Iraq war. He also claimed that media outlets of “enemies” now mean to destroy the hopes and desires of the Iranian people and authorities

The students gathered to hear his speech were all taking a course as part of recruitment into the Basij paramilitary force, founded as a voluntary youth movement in 1979 by the order of Ayatollah Khomeini after the toppling of Mohammad Reza Shah.

“The only promise of a threat they won’t keep is a military one, for if they consider it, they will incur extensive costs which will also weaken their soft war,” he added, in response to the increased threat and sanctions of Iran’s “enemies.”

On Thursday, Qassim Soleimani tweeted threats to President Trump of severe consequences after the American leader made threats to President Rouhani, also in a tweet.

“As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to your threats ... If you want to use the language of threat ... talk to me, not to the president. It is not in our president’s dignity to respond to you.”

Editing by John J. Catherine