Iranian Revolutionary Guards Mount Criticism against Rouhani

IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami. (Fars news)
IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami. (Fars news)
TT

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Mount Criticism against Rouhani

IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami. (Fars news)
IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami. (Fars news)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) continued on Friday is campaign of criticism against President Hassan Rouhani, with a deputy commander saying that he is “echoing Iran’s enemies.”

IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami said: “Some friends look us in the eye to congratulate us, but they are in fact echoing the voice of our enemy.”

“The IRGC does not fear those threats. It is not appropriate for friends to treat each other like enemies,” he said in an indirect reference to Rouhani.

Moreover, he attributed “internal attacks” against his forces to the “defeat of psychological wars against the IRGC.”

In addition, he made light of the growing poverty in Iran, saying: “You must not believe that the economic problems will lead the people to stray away from the regime.”

Salami instead accused his country’s “enemies” of seeking to cripple the economy.

“Those people wanted to show Iran as a backwards and poor nation.”

Iranian officials do not normally acknowledge deep divisions in their country despite the vitriolic rhetoric exchanged between them.

Head of the Basij force Gholamhossein Gheybparvar also indirectly responded to Rouhani’s criticism, saying: “The statements by some officials at public platforms does not weaken the IRGC.”

He attributed Rouhani’s recent remarks against the Guards to his “straying away from the Supreme Leader.”

“We must strengthen ties among ourselves as much as possible. We must be aware that we are all ultimately bound in the end to the Supreme Leader.”

He also defended the IRGC’s regional role, boasting of the “export of the revolution” beyond Iran’s borders.

Gheybparvar did, however, implicitly acknowledge the drop in the IRGC’s popularity on the Iranian internal scene, noting: “People abroad are more aware of the value of the revolution.”

This is owed to the IRGC, he stressed according to the Fars news agency.

Rouhani had earlier this week issued indirect criticism against the IRGC, by saying that the Iranian army has refrained from getting embroiled in “political games.”

He also slammed the IRGC’s economic role and hailed the military for not “tarnishing its image with corruption cases.”

“The military understands politics well, but it did not get involved in the political games,” he went on to say.

The IRGC was quick to respond to his claims, accusing on Thursday internal sides “harming unity and stoking division.”



Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Visits Sumy Region Bordering Russia’s Kursk Province

 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 3, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 3, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Visits Sumy Region Bordering Russia’s Kursk Province

 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 3, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 3, 2024. (Reuters)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday he had visited the northern Sumy region, from where Ukraine launched a major incursion into the neighboring Russian Kursk region in August.

Almost two months into the surprise incursion, Kyiv's troops control swathes of Russian border territory, though the pace of the advance has slowed and Moscow's forces have begun to counterattack.

"It is crucial to understand that the Kursk operation is a really strategic thing, something that adds motivation to our partners, motivation to be with Ukraine, be more decisive and put pressure on Russia," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

Shown alongside his top army commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visiting the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, the president thanked the military for defending Ukraine's territorial integrity.

He said the incursion, which Ukraine says is bringing war back to Russia, "has greatly helped" Kyiv to secure the latest military support packages from the West.

"We need to motivate the whole world and convince them that Ukrainians can be stronger than the enemy," he told the servicemen.

Zelenskiy added that he had held a meeting with his military command, which had discussed the front lines and the energy situation in the Sumy region. Russia has been pummeling regional electricity infrastructure, leading to power cuts.