A top military aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that Iran has taken the necessary measures to respond to any U.S. and Israeli military and non-military threats. “The Americans and the Zionists are the major threats that may wage a proxy war in in the region,” said the official, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, according to the Mehr news agency. He added that “a proxy war is a possibility, and we have learned to examine different scenarios and have a plan for every possible threat.” Safavi further added that the armed forces have prepared themselves to tackle any problems and the police are also ready to prevent any social unrest and insecurity both inside the country or on the borders. He went on to claim that the “Americans and the Zionists are in a weaker position compared to 10 years ago as they have shown in their failure to topple the Syrian government despite huge efforts.” Safavi also called U.S. President Donald Trump “an imbalanced man who has waged an economic war against Iran alongside other industrial countries,” adding that his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will not yield any results. Iranian officials regularly threaten the U.S. and Israel. Khamenei recently launched a Twitter tirade against Israel, saying that “the Zionist regime will perish in the not-so-far future.” Earlier this month he called Israel “a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated”. The Supreme Leader refers to the U.S. as the “Great Satan” and backs the chants of “Death to America” which are often heard during protests in Iran.
