Ramazan Sharif, a top commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) who is responsible for public relations, called the threat posed to Iran by the Islamic State to be trivial. “Daesh (ISIS) cannot fire a single firework inside Iran,” Sharif was quoted by to have said by Iranian media. In contrast, Sharif said, “Daesh is today carrying out terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe.” According to this senior IRGC official, the inability of ISIS to stage attacks inside Iran is all due to the “innovative approaches” by Iranian security and military forces to combat the group.
Calling ISIS a creation of the United States, Sharif said that the group is now creating security havoc on the European continent. “The French thought that after Second World War, nothing could threaten them again but ISIS prove them wrong.” In a clear jab at the government of President Hassan Rouhani, Sharif also cautioned “[Rouhani] government officials should not take the security Iran enjoys for granted.” “Nowhere in the world is today as safe as Iran.”
This sort of grandiose assessment of the IRGC’s capabilities is typical by the leadership of the organization. It is also a clear sign that the IRGC believes its regional interventions have served its interests well. The reference to “innovative approaches” implies that the IRGC-controlled Iranian military operations in Iraq and Syria against ISIS have kept the enemy at bay, and that therefore such policies should not be questioned.
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