US withdrawal from Mideast sole path to peace: Iran commander

Iran's chief Armed Forces spokesman has criticized the United States' ignorance of the Islamic Republic's policies, saying that the withdrawal of US forces from the Middle East is the only way to restore peace and tranquility to the region.

"The only way to [restore] peace and tranquility to the region is the departure of the Americans and the renunciation of aggressive and terrorist operations by dependent and reactionary regimes against independent countries," Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Sunday.

Jazayeri was reacting to recent comments by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday to end the country’s ballistic missile tests in what is Washington’s first reaction to his reelection.

Speaking to reporters in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, he repeated a Western accusation that Iran supports terrorism and said, "What I would hope, is that Rouhani ... [would] use that [new] term to begin a process of dismantling Iran's network of terrorism, dismantling its financing of the terrorist networks, dismantling the manning and the logistics and everything that they provide to these destabilizing forces that exist in this region."

The top Iranian commander rejected the claims, saying that the US foreign secretary's expectations from Tehran stem from the "ignorance of the American officials with regard to the Islamic Republic of Iran."

He added that the resistance front in the region is currently at its best and is well capable of countering military and terrorist measures.

"The defense policies and objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran are being executed as part of a well-defined process and no factor can hinder them," Jazayeri said.

Considering the ongoing regional and international conditions, and since Iran's Islamic Revolution has sworn enemies, continuation, acceleration and deepening of defense objectives, including development of missile systems, are among the country's priorities, he pointed out.

On April 23, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan underlined the country's resolve to boost its military might, saying the Islamic Republic would leave no stone unturned in developing its missile capabilities.

In recent years, Iran has broken new grounds with regard to its defense capability and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.

The country has also conducted military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its Armed Forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art army equipment.

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