Iran no longer saw the US as a threat after it withdrew forces from the region, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
“We have built power to defeat the US. When we build power for man’s largest military empire, i.e. the US, small powers like the Zionist regime are no longer counted in our equations,” Gen. Salami was quoted by an Insider.
“We witnessed a failed, fleeing and depressed US,” he reportedly added.
President Joe Biden indicated an interest in turning a page on US-Iranian relations during his first address to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday.
He stressed his commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. We are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically and seek a return to the JCPOA,” Biden said.
Salami also declared that Iran has managed to weather US sanctions. “Inside our own country, despite all natural or imposed pressures, the Iranian nation has been engaged in resistance,” he said.
In 2018, former US President Donald Trump ditched the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, introducing harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic under a "maximum pressure" campaign. The US sanctions have, for the most part, burdened the life of ordinary Iranians, especially in a time of pandemic, as Iran has been prevented from obtaining medicines and medical equipment from abroad.