Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, says powers greater than the US have tried to conquer Iran but ultimately ended up in the “dustbin of history.”
During an exclusive interview with Press TV on Saturday, Rezaei said the “US suffered repeated defeats in its confrontation with Iran and has consequently turned to economic warfare out of desperation.”
Iran, rather than the US, would determine when the confrontation ends, he said, stressing that Tehran would continue its resistance until its rightful demands are met.
Addressing the presence of US forces in the region, Rezaei told Press TV that the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq reflected Washington’s failure to impose its military agenda on the region, describing it as a vindication of Iran’s resistance to American military presence in West Asia.
Rezaei further said that more than “30 million Iranians have registered in ‘Janfada’ (Sacrifice for Iran) Campaign to take up arms in the event of US aggression.”
On the prospects for ending the war, Rezaei said Iran would continue to pursue diplomacy but would not return to its previous negotiating framework.
“We will not return to the diplomatic approach of the past,” he said, referring to three rounds of negotiations that he said had ended with the United States abandoning talks and attacking Iran.
“Of course, we have never abandoned diplomacy, and we never will. But we have changed our approach,” he added.
Rezaei said Iran had presented Washington with seven conditions, following contacts through Pakistan, Qatar and Iraq. According to him, the United States had responded to the proposals, accepting some conditions while leaving others unclear.
He described the American response as inadequate and said Washington needed to clarify the outstanding issues before further steps could be taken.
“We are not in the process of responding to the Americans. They have responded to us, and we consider their response inadequate,” he said.
$2 trillion in US tech infrastructure could be targeted
The senior official warned that, if Washington launched another act of aggression against Iran, American assets could be targeted, including key data systems and artificial intelligence sensors.
Rezaei further warned that US-linked technology infrastructure worth more than $2 trillion in the region could be targeted if Iran came under attack again.
“The pulse of the American economy in this region runs through our part of the world,” Rezaei said, adding that the United States has placed valuable technological assets in West Asia, including data centers and artificial intelligence facilities.
“We have not yet included these assets among our targets. But if war breaks out, many of these cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and numerous other sites will be destroyed,” he said.
He also warned that Iran is prepared to deploy additional military capabilities if the war resumes.
He said Tehran had deliberately held back some of its military capabilities during the 12-day war and had used more of its capabilities during the subsequent 40-day aggression.
“Today, we are fully prepared to introduce new capabilities if the war starts again,” he said.
Iran insists on control of the Strait of Hormuz
Rezaei also identified Washington and its regional allies as the root of the problem surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
Rezaei said Tehran would retain control over the management of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a substantial share of global energy supplies normally passes.
“Our control over the Strait of Hormuz represents enormous national wealth and a major national asset,” he said, adding that Iran’s interests extended beyond collecting fees from passing ships.
He said Iran could derive economic benefits from charging vessels for security, insurance and environmental protection, but maintained that the strait’s wider strategic value lay in ensuring security in the region.
“From now on, therefore, we will maintain control over the management of the Strait of Hormuz. It will remain under our management to ensure peace and security in the region. We will not back down on this issue,” he said.
Rezaei rejected US claims that the waterway was open, noting that some vessels are operating through smuggling networks and that the current level of maritime traffic remained far below prewar levels.
He also said Iranian forces had been striking five or six vessels involved in such operations on any given night over the preceding two or three months.
Rezaei pointed out that restrictions on shipping had affected the movement of oil, gas, helium and fertilizers, while contributing to higher energy prices and economic pressure.
Before the war, he said, the strait had been open and maritime traffic had proceeded without such disruption.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the latest round of US-Israeli aggression, preventing US and allied ships from navigating the strategic waterway.
The move resulted in a significant increase in oil and energy prices across the globe, especially in the US, forcing Washington and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release their strategic resources several times.
Following the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Iran and the US in June, Tehran opened the Strait of Hormuz, but after the US violated the MoU by blockading Iranian ports, Iran’s Armed Forces closed the maritime corridor once again.
‘The Iranian people do not surrender’
Rezaei also rejected the prospect of Iran yielding to US pressure, stressing that the outcome of the war would ultimately depend on the Iranian people.
“The Iranian people do not surrender. They are the ones who force others to surrender before them. But they will never surrender to you,” he said.
He added that Iran would continue resisting until its rights were recognized, while saying that US officials are underestimating the country’s history and national resolve.
In his closing remarks, Rezaei said Washington’s efforts to weaken Iran had instead strengthened opposition to the United States among Iranians.
“The end of this war is in the hands of the Iranian nation,” he said. “They will not abandon their resistance, steadfastness, or defense until they force you to recognize their rights.”
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website