IRGC Deputy Commander for Operations Abbas Nilforoushan has warned against any Israeli military operation against Iran, threatening "If Israel makes a strategic mistake, it has to collect bits and pieces of Tel Aviv from the lower depths of the Mediterranean Sea."
He added that world powers are incapable of assessing the consequences of an attack on Iran.
In an interview with the IRGC's Tasnim news agency, General Nilforoushan said the reason for the sense of uncertainty is that "Iranian armed forces do not play according to the rules in their strategic depth which is as wide as West Asia."
He added that in the area of military power, Iran has reached a balance of power with its enemies.
Asked about his views on threats Israel can pose against Iran, Nilforoushan said: "Israel is not in a position to threaten Iran. He added: "Iran has encircled Israel from all four sides," adding that after a conflict with Iran, "Nothing will be left of Israel."
Nilforoushan explained that Israel's military doctrine is based on "striking resistance forces before they can be turned into a threat and start an all-out war because they cannot afford being involved in a full-fledged war."
Operational commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Abbas Nilforushan. Undated
Born in 1966 in Isfahan, Nilforoushan is an experienced revolutionary guards commander who has also served as "military adviser" in countries that are the members of the Resistance Front, Tasnim reported, alluding to Nilforoushan's experience in the Syrian civil war. He has been appointed to his post as Operations Commander by the IRGC's commander-in-chief Hossein Salami.
Nilforoushan told Tasnim that "No country can stand up to the Islamic Republic. Tehran's enemies know that the they will not be in control of ending a war they might start against Iran."
He added, however, "If the enemies could have started a war against Iran, they would have done it."
"Israel lacks strategic depth," he said, "So, its people are poor and there are too many ethnic, cultural and political divides in their society. A war will drag Israel's regime to the threshold of annihilation."
The IRGC general did not explain why he thinks Israelis are poor, when Israel in 2017 ranked 54th in the world with $36,000 per capita income and Iran was 90th with $20,000.
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Since then, Iran’s economy and currency have crashed, with people’s income and purchasing power declining at least to half of what it was two years ago.
Nilforoushan also claimed, "because of lack of strategic depth, if only one missile hits the occupied lands, Israeli airports will be filled with people trying to run away from the country."
Referring to the Israeli strikes on what he called "resistance forces" in Syria, he said Israel is trying to attack any possible build up of forces against it. However, he threatened that Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah might do what he said about "liberating northern Israel in case a war breaks out."
"This will certainly happen, as Hezbollah has a good capability to do it," Nilforoushan said, adding, "We will perceive any mistake in the region as involvement in a war in the whole region. Any action to start a war in the region will flare up a fire that will burn those who have started the war."
So far, Iran has not reacted to hundreds of Israeli air strikes on its forces and bases in Syria. Netanyahu who has met with the protector of the Syrian regime, the Russian President Vladimir Putin, has vowed not to allow Iran to be entrenched in the country or approach its borders.
Talking about Iran's strategic depth which he said spans up to the Mediterranean Sea, Nilforoushan claimed: "We ae not a small country that could be conquered in one step. If all the Western, Arab and Israeli coalitions forces enter our country, Iran's geography will defeat them before they can do anything."
Meanwhile, he said Iran has developed a " deep and long-range assault capability" and has manufactured the weapons to make this capability operational. "We will not let the enemies to face us at our borders. We will quickly drag the war to the bases and interests of the enemies anywhere they may happen to be."