Jerusalem, 31 March, 2022 (TPS) — Major General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), threatened the Gulf countries over their cooperation with Israel.
Salami stated Wednesday that “unfortunately, some regimes to the south of the Persian Gulf have established political and security relations with the Zionist regime, which poses a serious threat to the security of the region and to that of these regimes themselves, in particular,”
“We explicitly declare and warn that the continuation of such relations are not acceptable at all, and they should know that the existence of the evil Zionist regime everywhere is a cause of insecurity,” he declared ominously.
Salami issued the threat just days after Israel hosted the Negev Summit, attended by six foreign ministers: Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco Nasser Bourita, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Shoukry, the direct outcome of the Abraham Accords.
Iran has previously directly attacked the Gulf States, and has also indirectly attacked them through the Houthi rebels, their proxies in Yemen who they arm and direct.
Salami’s threats come as the US is exploring the option of removing the IRGC from its Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) list as part of the renewed nuclear deal with Tehran.
President Donald Trump announced in April 2019 his Administration’s move to designate the IRGC, including its Qods Force (QF), as an FTO. This designation is the first time that the US has ever named a part of another government as an FTO.
The IRGC is an independent military force accountable to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A branch of the IRGC, the Qods Force, was commanded by the notorious General Qassem Soleimani and is responsible for spreading Iran’s subversive activities and terrorism across the Middle East and to other points around the globe. The IRGC is Iran’s primary tool to implement its global terrorist campaign, including through the Hezbollah and Hamas terror organizations.
