Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Iran would have to fight a war inside its borders, if the enemy threats had not been thwarted in Syria.
"If the ill-wishers and seditionists, who are the puppets of the US and Zionism, had not been confronted [in Syria], we would have to face them in Tehran, Fars, Khorasan and Isfahan," Ayatollah Khamenei said in remarks published on Thursday.
The Leader made the statements this week during a meeting with the families of Iranian commandos killed in Syria, in which he paid tribute to all those who lost their lives in the battle against terrorists.
"Not only the army, but also the entire nation is proud of these martyrs," said Ayatollah Khamenei, whose statements were reported by several Iranian news agencies.
Earlier Thursday, a senior military commander said Iran's armed forces are capable of thwarting any US threat due to the Islamic Republic's achievements in enhancing the country's military might, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Lieutenant General Hossein Salami, the second-in-command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, touched on US strategies against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
"They [the US] sought to undermine us in the war, but we managed to build an immense missile and marine power and an enormous ground force," he said in the central city of Yazd, adding that Iran has built up so much power that it has become "capable of overcoming the US."
"Today, no one talks about overthrowing the establishment and conducting a military invasion of Iran, because the more the enemy fought with this nation, the stronger the Iranian nation became," he said.
Diminishing Power
Salami pointed to Iran's awareness of the extent of Washington's real power.
"We know that the capacity of the US, Europe and their regional allies for dominating over the Muslim world is diminishing," he said."
The commander said US attempts to undermine Iran's influence in the region have prompted the Islamic Republic to promote its weight in different parts of the Muslim world, including in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
"In Iraq, we witness what kind of power has been created. The Americans are not capable of taking action in Iraq, but the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units, inspired by Iran's Islamic Revolution, have now taken the initiative in Iraq's field developments," he said.
Speaking at a conference in Fars Province in southern Iran, Lieutenant General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Division, praised Iran's military prowess and elaborated on Iran's success in achieving self-sufficiency in defense industry.
"Today, we are capable of designing and manufacturing any missile and aircraft that we need," Hajizadeh said.
In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing the needed military equipment and systems.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured other states that its military might poses no threat to other countries since the Islamic Republic's defense doctrine is based entirely on deterrence.
