A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officer was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike hours after he warned the “enemy” of an incoming “surprise” in a defiant challenge to US naval claims in the Gulf. The IRGC said their spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini was “martyred in the criminal, cowardly terrorist attack by the American-Zionist side at dawn”.
“His transformative ideas and effective models in ‘soft war’ will continue guiding the revolution’s guards against arrogant powers,” the Guards added.
Ali Mohammad Naini’s Last Warning To US-Israel
In his last statement before death, the brigadier general had openly mocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that Iran can no longer enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles. He had said that Tehran’s missile industry has reached its ‘highest levels’ despite the war with Israel and the United States.
Naini stated that Iran’s missile production continues even during wartime, with sufficient stockpiles available without any concern.
“Our missile industry deserves a perfect score… and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production,” he was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
“The missile industry has reached its highest levels. There are surprises coming for the enemy, and as the battles progress, they will become more complex and intense,” Naini added.
The senior military officer had also dismissed US President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran’s navy had been destroyed, daring Washington to deploy ships into the Persian Gulf. “Didn’t Trump say that Iran’s navy has been destroyed? If so, let him send his ships into the Persian Gulf if he dares,” he was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
But, moments after his message was shared by the agency, the Revolutionary Guards said he had been killed in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel’s Claim
With war in the Middle East in its third week, Netanyahu has claimed Tehran can no longer enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles.
“After 20 days, I can tell you– Iran today has no ability to enrich uranium and no ability to produce ballistic missiles,” he said, speaking at his first in-person press conference since the launch of the US-Israel campaign against Iran on February 28.
“We are continuing to crush these capabilities. We will crush them to dust, to ashes,” he said in a Hebrew statement to open the bilingual press conference. Iran “is weaker than ever” while Israel is a regional power “and some would say a world power,” the Israeli PM added.