September 4, 2007--The new commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Ali Ja'fari--who was just appointed by Iran Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held his first press conference, yesterday in Tehran--and stated, "Relying on people's support that is organized within military framework, great intelligence superiority, and its missile capabilities, the IRGC is fully ready to defeat any possible aggressive move." Ja'fari continued, "The region has to be cleared of the existence of enemies, and interactions with them [for their allies] should be long distance, since the Muslim peoples of the region cannot tolerate the presence of aliens here."
The replacement of the Revolutionary Guard commander has been described to the media as a "common matter" and very routine, but it comes on the heels of two significant tracks of drumbeats for war against Iran: the decision by the White House to designate the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization with global reach; and an outbreak of British-authored and -promoted war plans to create an atmosphere for war. LaRouche PAC and the LaRouche Youth Movement have been organizing to expose the actions of the Cheney "war party," to get an excuse of a war against Iran. But asked about this, Ja'afari said, "This development had nothing to do with the enemies' threats, or the antagonist comments made by them against IRGC."
As for the future challenges, he said: "In the future, too, the IRGC would [act] appropriate[ly] with the threats and capabilities of the enemy, and in accordance with present defense methods, choose special defense tactics.
"The armed forces' main task is defending the territorial integrity of the country against the aggressive moves of the enemies from beyond borders, but the IRGC, in accordance with decisions adopted in early years after the victory of Islamic Revolution, confronts any threats against the system and revolution." He that the IRGC also has broad interactions with the other Iranian armed forces, especially the army.
