Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said the conflict with the United States and its allies is 'not over', warning that Tehran is prepared for a prolonged confrontation if hostilities intensify in West Asia.
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In an interview with Al-Alam News Network, IRGC second brigadier general Hossein Mohebbi said Iranian forces had prepared for a "long-term war" and remained ready to respond to any fresh escalation.
"In our view, war is war; it has different stages, but war is war and the war is not over, the war continues, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has prepared itself for a long-term war, and it was ready before, and now it is even more prepared for a long-term war," Mohebbi said, according to news agency ANI.
He added that any renewed escalation would trigger an Iranian response.
"And this is not a new stage, so to speak, but if at another stage we encounter the issue of the intensity of our aggression again, without a doubt we are prepared and we will defend ourselves," he said.
Mohebbi also claimed that the United States, Israel and their allies had failed to achieve their objectives during the conflict.
"America has failed in this war, and its defeat is a historic and shameful defeat, but it does not have the courage to admit this defeat and accept it," he said, adding that the assessment was shared by military and political experts.
A key part of his remarks concerned the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has sought to control amid the wider conflict.
"One of the areas of America's failure is the failure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz," Mohebbi said, claiming that the US "did not have the ability to reopen the Strait and could not".
