ESFAHAN, Iran, Aug 17 — The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said Friday that his country is after the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East.

“We trust on our strong military power but Iran has a defensive strategy and we are after the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East”, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said.

The US has launched a fresh round of war-on nerves by threatening to put Iran’s IRGC forces on black list as a terrorist group, a move that has won no public support both at home and outside the United States.

In an interview on the occasion of the happy anniversary of Imam Hussein’s birthday (Peace be upon him) and foundation of Revolutionary Guard, Safavi said, “The Guard forces possess highly sophisticated weapons and military equipment and stands ready to respond to foreign troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Persian Gulf, defending the country’s interests.

“Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps possesses the greatest defensive force in the Middle East.” He said.

Safavi said that Iran has access to the state-of the art military technology and is able to defend against the enemies and safeguard its interests through applying the trained forces to use sophisticated defensive and attack warfare.

“Of course we have changed our military doctrine and strategies after the US-led Iraq and Afghanistan invasion and have equipped our forces with modern surface to surface and land to sea missiles to fend off the extra-territorial powers”, the Commander of the IRGC Added.

Safavi said Iran’s missiles can hit any target in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea and no boat or warship frequenting the region can escape from the Iranian missiles.

Iran’s Revolutionary Elite Guard Corps is equipped with 2,000km range guided surface to surface Ballistic missiles, said the official, adding that Iran also enjoys surface to air Tor-M1 anti-missile system.

“Iran has trained some 12,000,000 volunteer (Basij) forces, organized under 2500 battalion named “Ashura,” the commander added.

Safavi also praised IRGC’s Ground Force capabilities, saying that the Iranian anti-tank missiles can penetrate into the Israeli Merkava and US-made Abraham tanks.

“We trust on our strong military power but we are after the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East, and Iran has a defensive strategy”, said the official.

The US has launched a fresh round of war-on nerves by threatening to put Iran’s IRGC forces on black list as a terrorist group, a move that has won no public support both at home and outside the United States.

“West has to accept Iran’s influence and power in the Middle East region and observe Iran’s rights,” commander of IRGC said.

Rahim Safavi said, “Western powers have got to know that Iran has turned to a regional power and establishment of the security in the region without observing Iran’s rights is not possible.”

He said that the US pressure on Iran and its propaganda campaign against IRGC are owing to the national defense force’s success to defend the country during the eight-year imposed war.

Safavi clarified that Iran is a political and security force in the region and the security of the region requires Iran’s active participation.

The commander of the IRGC, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said the Iranian surface to sea missiles can fire any target in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea.