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IRGC Blasts ‘Coalition of Demons’ in Gulf, Warns War With Iran Would ‘Endanger Israel’s Survival’

© REUTERS / Morteza NikoubazlAn Iranian cleric walks past a mural on the wall of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran in this February file photo.
An Iranian cleric walks past a mural on the wall of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran in this February file photo. - Sputnik International
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This week, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz revealed that Tel Aviv was providing assistance to the US-led naval coalition forming in the Middle East, providing support with intelligence and in ‘other unspecified fields.’

Israel’s existence will be threatened with “irreversible collapse” if the US and its regional allies choose to start a new war with Iran, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami has warned.

“The enemy knows that any new war endangers the survival of the Zionist regime, and will be followed by its irreversible fall,” the commander said, referring to Israel while speaking at a military meeting in Kermanshah province, western Iran on Thursday, his remarks quoted by IRNA.

“The Zionists and some of their allies do not show a desire for war today because they know that if it occurred, it would move into their lands,” Salami added. According to the commander, the “enemy knows” that a resisting force had been created “in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere” which could threaten them in the event of a conflict.

‘Coalition of Demons’

Referring to the US-UK coalition ‘maritime security coalition forming in the Middle East as a “coalition of demons,” Salami suggested that Iran was already involved in a war with the great powers of the West, facing “maximum political and economic pressures, psychological operations, cultural assaults, economic seizures, and even security threats and military intimidation.”

On Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv had agreed to join the US-led coalition forming in the Gulf after Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz met with an unnamed “high ranking persona” from the United Arab Emirates to discuss the “Iranian threat.” Israeli involvement is said to be limited to intelligence support and aid in ‘other unspecified fields’. Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed deploying Israeli naval assets to potential Iranian ‘covert oil smuggling’ routes to “block” the country from circumventing US sanctions.

Traditionally poor relations between Iran and Israel have gotten worse in recent months amid broader tensions over a series of tanker attacks, drone shoot downs and ship seizures in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, with leaders and military officials from the two countries regularly exchanging threatening remarks about their ability to destroy one another.

On Monday, the UK agreed to scrap plans for a ‘European-led’ security mission in the Gulf, supported by France and Germany, joining a US-led coalition in the region instead. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised London’s decision on Wednesday, calling it a “victory for meaningful, effective multilateralism,” and pointing to the UK’s “centuries of maritime experience.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blasted the new coalition plans, and vowed that Iran would protect its 2,400 coastline and ensure the freedom of navigation in the region.

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