America was acting against Iran, Islam, says ground forces chief Pourdastan; also suggests bombing attacks on Saudi cities to deter Riyadh in Yemen
The commander of Iran’s ground forces charged that the United States masterminded the 9/11 terror attacks on its soil in 2001.
Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan made the statement during an interview on Iran’s state-owned Al-Alam television channel, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported Sunday.
“These wars [in the Middle East] and these threats stem from a comprehensive American strategy,” Pourdastan said on April 19. “After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Americans felt that a new force was beginning to materialize – namely, the union between Sunnis and Shiites. The basis of this force was the blessed Islamic Revolution in Iran. This force is Islam, or the Islamic world. In order to prevent this force from materializing, the Americans did many things. The first thing they did was to plan and carry out the events of 9/11 in order to justify their presence in western Asia, with the goal of ruling it.”
Pourdastan also mentioned the possibility of Islamic terror attacks on Saudi Arabian cities. “Personally, I feel that if Saudi cities were targeted by bombings and missiles, it would be difficult for the officials there to withstand this,” he said. “Seeing that in the past, Yemen bought a variety of weapons that are now in the hands of the [Houthi] Muslims, they are capable of dealing lethal blows to Saudi Arabia.”
He also warned Islamic State against attacking Iran. “If [Islamic State] tries to come within 40 kilometers of our borders, we shall confront them and make them witness the might and capabilities of the Muslim soldiers,” he said.
