Iran defiant...says its troops are ready for combat, any scenario

Chief commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami says his troops are ready for combat and “any scenario”.

The statement follows an announcement by the United States (US) that it plans to deploy additional troops and missile defence equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Hossein Salami, who was addressing a ceremony today, displayed pieces of an American drone Iran shot down in June, before disclosing that his forces have carried out “war exercises and are ready for any scenario.”

He added: “If anyone crosses our borders, we will hit them.”

Salami appeared to issue a direct warning to the US and Saudi Arabia, though he sought to make it clear that Iran does not want to start a conflict.

“We won’t stop until the destruction of any aggressor. And we will not leave any secure spot,” he said.

“Do not miscalculate and do not make a mistake.”

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested, in a message posted on Twitter, that Saudi Arabia does not believe its own allegations that Iran was responsible for last week’s drone attacks on the Saudi oil industry.

“It is clear that even the Saudis themselves don’t believe the fiction of Iranian involvement”, Zarif said, pointing to what he described as a Saudi retaliatory attack on Houthi forces in southwestern Yemen.

Houthi rebels initially claimed responsibility for the attacks, which sent shock waves through the global energy market.

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