Iran Press/ Iran news: IRGC spokesman, Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, in an interview with Press TV said: "This fabricated crisis has been directed from abroad with the purpose of instigating insecurity in Syria and creating a safety margin for the Israeli regime."
IRGC spokesman added: "The Islamic Republic has been supporting Syria in accordance with international regulations since the beginning of the crisis in that country."
Sharif reiterated that the legitimate Syrian government has asked for Iran's military advisory presence in the country, a request which Iran has accepted, adding: "The Islamic Republic has made an effort to share its "useful" experience with the Syrian army and people to help them defend their country."
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He added that resistance of the Syrian people and government has foiled a plot hatched by Israel and its allies aimed at partitioning the Arab country to create a safety margin for the Tel Aviv regime.
However, four or five years after the beginning of the crisis in Syria, they found out that that they had failed to overthrow the Arab country's government and that they were facing a "professional" Syrian army, the senior Iranian commander said.
Sharif further said during the eight-year war imposed on the Islamic Republic by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1980s, Syria was the only country that defended Iran's legitimate rights and even provided military and advisory support to Tehran.
Iran, self-reliant military, defense power
The IRGC commander further said the Islamic Republic is a "self-reliant military and defense power" in the areas of training, planning and logistics.
However, the Americans seek to portray Iran's significant power as a threat to regional countries, Sharif added.
The Islamic Republic has always made efforts to remind neighboring countries that its capabilities in defense and military sectors aim to promote peace and stability in the region and counter enemies of Islam and regional Muslim nations, he pointed out.
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Iranian nation's security, Armed Forces red line
The senior commander further emphasized that the Iranian nation's security remains the red line of the country’s Armed Forces, saying the IRGC has always taken practical measures to realize this aim.
Sharif said the IRGC always tries to boost surveillance of the activities of terrorist groups that have targeted the Iranian nation's security and the IRGC would carry out necessary and required military operations in this regard.
He added that the IRGC has repeatedly announced that it would never submit to any bid seeking to create insecurity in the Islamic Republic and would give a "crushing response" in the shortest possible time to anybody seeking to disrupt the country's security.
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Saudi Arabia's efforts to attribute its defeat to Iran
Elsewhere in the interview, Sharif dismissed "contradictory" claims that the Islamic Republic is dispatching weapons to Yemen and said Saudi Arabia is attributing its defeat in the long war against the Yemeni people to Iran.
Such allegations are in contradiction to the fact that the Saudi-led coalition has imposed the toughest sea and land blockade on Yemen, he added.
The IRGC commander emphasized that Yemen has been a "missile power" in the region due to its ties in the past with the former Soviet Union.
Back in March, the IRGC rejected Saudi accusations that Iran is providing missiles to Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, saying such claims are aimed at diverting attention from Riyadh’s war crimes in Yemen.
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