The spokesperson of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified combatant command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, warned the leaders of the Kurdistan region in Iraq on Friday, March 6 not to cooperate with US troops in attacking Iran.

“Our Armed Forces have imposed full control over all border posts, and monitor all movements. We say to the leaders of the Kurdistan region that any movement or cooperation that may lead to the deployment of the enemy’s forces near the Iranian borders will be subjected to a severe response from the Iranian Armed Forces,” Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Zolfaghari warned.

“We do respect the sovereignty of the countries across the region. However, we announce that any area used by the US or Zionist regime will be severely targeted by us,” he stressed.

The warning came after media reports surfaced earlier during the week, saying that US President Donald Trump discussed with the leaders from the two main Kurdish factions in Iraq, Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani, next plans regarding the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

Trump’s endeavor to drag the US Kurdish allies into the war is believed to be part of a reported US plan to launch a ground invasion against Iran, especially as they have close ties to the Kurdish minority in the Islamic Republic. By doing so, the US may be seeking to destabilize Iran from within, in order to facilitate the intended political and military goal to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Moreover, NBC News cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter as saying that the US President is seriously mulling the deployment of a small contingent of US troops in Iran that would be used for specific strategic purposes, rather than focusing on a large-scale ground invasion of the country.

Araghchi defies US plan to invade Iran saying: “We are waiting for them”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, expressed his country’s resolute defiance to the possible invasion, during a video interview with US-based outlet NBC on Thursday, March 5.

When he was asked if Iran is afraid of a US invasion, Araghchi said: “No, we are waiting for them!”

“We are confident that we can confront them, and that will be a big disaster for them,” he added.

The Iranian FM further emphasized that his country is ready for this war even more than the previous war, referring to the unprovoked 12-day aggression that the US launched jointly with Israel against Iran last June.

“You can see the quality of our missiles, how much they are upgraded after the last war, because we learned lots of lessons, and we are prepared for any other eventuality, even a ground invasion,” he added.

IRGC voices similar defiance regarding US threats to trespass in the Strait of Hormuz

A couple of days after the US and Israel started their new aggression on Iran, the West Asian country declared the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and threatened to attack any vessel attempting to traverse the waterway next to the Persian Gulf.

This in turn, has resulted in a considerable surge in US oil prices, pushing Trump to consider sending the US Navy to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

The spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini, challenged Trump’s intentions in a statement released on Friday.

“Iran strongly welcomes the escorting of oil tankers and the claimed presence of US forces to facilitate passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Naeini stated.

“In fact, we are awaiting their arrival,” he asserted.

Global food system hangs in the balance

The repercussions of the developments in the Strait of Hormuz, may in fact transcend the high increase in the prices of oil, gold, and defense industry.

Experts have argued that the closure of this vital maritime artery, may significantly affect the global food system as well.

“The Hormuz closure is not a 6-week shock. It is an 18-month stress test for the global food system. Most allocators are trading the obvious: oil up, defense up, gold up. They are missing the connective tissue,” Nazem Alkudsi, the founder of Long Arc News wrote on X.

The post Tehran remains defiant in the face of US threats of invasion appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

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