Iran ‘determined’ to boost its military after US-Israel deal

Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces said Wednesday that a $38 billion aid deal between the United States and Israel makes Iran more determined to strengthen its military.

In comments broadcast live on Iranian state TV on Wednesday, General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri said the US-Israel aid deal “will make us more determined in strengthening the defense power of the country.”

Bagheri said Iran’s enemies fear her army. “That is why they seek to pile pressure on the resistance front by purchasing large amounts of weapons as well as training and supporting terrorists,” he added, according to the semi-official news outlet Press TV.

He also accused the US and Israel of trying to ruin the Middle East, claiming that the “ultimate goal of the United States and the Zionist regime and their supporters in proxy and sedition wars [launched through terrorists] is to destroy the infrastructure of Muslim states.”

The Iranian military is “closely and precisely monitoring all the enemy’s moves in the region,” Bagheri continued, and the country is “capable of foiling the attempts of regional and extra-regional enemies.”

He also described Iran as a “peace-seeking” country that had never started a war.

Last week the US signed an unprecedented new security agreement with Israel that will give the Israeli military $38 billion over 10 years.

Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli terrorist groups such as Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Bagheri’s remarks were given during an annual military parade marking the anniversary of Iraq-Iran war in 1980.