Iran's IRGC Chief Renews US Threats

In the wake of US retaliatory attacks on Iran's proxy militias, the Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a renewed warning against the US getting into direct conflict with Tehran.

While the US has made it clear it prefers diplomatic dialogue and has strategically hit proxy sites in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, Hossein Salami spoke in fighting terms Wednesday, warning, "We have always fired the last shot and emerged victorious in the field."

President Joe Biden's stance on conflict with Iran has been consistently lenient throughout his term, particularly in light of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel which triggered a proxy war across the region. 

Iran's militias have launched over 180 attacks on US facilities and killed multiple personnel as retaliation for Biden's support for Israel's right to defend itself after the atrocities which saw 1,200 mostly civilians murdered and over 250 taken hostage. Biden has reacted with less than a dozen retaliatory strikes.

In response to a drone strike which killed three US personnel in Jordan, President Biden authorized a "multi-layered" strike on targets associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iraq and Syria.

Joint US-UK strikes on Houthi targets have also hit key sites for the militia which has been blockading the Red Sea trade route since November and launched multiple attacks on international shipping in a bid to force Israel into a ceasefire in its war on Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.