'Scare off the Enemy!' – Khamenei Tells Armed Forces

Teheran: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Iran's armed forces to increase their power to "scare off the enemy", news agencies reported.

"The enemy" is the term Khamenei uses to describe mainly the United States and occasionally Israel.

Speaking at a military ceremony at the Marine Academy in Nowshahr in northern Iran on Sunday, Khamenei claimed that "the situation in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon” are examples of where “the United States' conspiracies have been defeated in the region."

He added that in those three countries "God's promises have come true and his power has been proven”.

U.S. president Donald Trump has cited Iran's aggressive behavior in the region as one main reason why he does not believe in reducing sanctions on Tehran, as the Obama administration did after the signing the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman stated the media recently that Israel is determined to put an end to Iran's military presence in Israel’s neighboring country.

In another development, a senior Israeli commander told reporters that Israel has recently launched more than 200 attacks on Iranian targets in Syria.

Khamenei had said in another speech last week that from a political point of view, there is no possibility for Iran being involved in a war. Nevertheless, he stressed the need for further empowerment of the Iranian armed forces.

He said, "Recently, the Americans have been talking about us in shameless ways. Apart from sanctions, they talk about war and negotiation at the same time in order to scare cowards."

Khamenei further characterized US officials' call for negotiation with Iran as "a banal game."

Responding to the United States' renewed sanctions against Iran, President Hassan Rouhani and some Iranian military commanders have threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Most of Middle East’s oil shipments pass through the straits on their way to world markets.

The United States' Operational commander in the Persian Gulf region, Admiral John Richardson has said that the United States is determined to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to international navigation even if it has to use force.