US Should Rather Help Its Coronavirus-hit Forces Instead of Threatening Iran – Military Spox

By Staff, Agencies

The US government should focus on saving its own coronavirus-hit forces instead of threatening countries like Iran, spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said.

“Instead of bullying others today, Americans should put their efforts into saving their forces, who have contracted coronavirus,” General Shekarchi said on Wednesday in response to a recent threat by US President Donald Trump.

Exemplifying the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps [IRGC] and the Iranian volunteer forces at the forefront of the battle with COVID-19, he further called on the United States to “evacuate” their forces from West Asia and use them to “rescue their people in the crisis.”

Shekarchi’s comments followed the US Navy announcement on Tuesday that it has detected 700 cases with coronavirus symptoms among the sailors of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.

As of Tuesday, 94% of the Roosevelt’s crew has been tested for the coronavirus as the ship nears a month since it docked in Guam due to the outbreak aboard the ship.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on his twitter account that he has instructed the US Navy “to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."

Trump posted the tweet as a reaction to a recent confrontation between US warships and Iranian boats in the Gulf.

The IRGC released a video on Sunday that shows its Navy warning off a flotilla of US warships in the Gulf as they try to approach the Iranian territorial waters.

In the video, a personnel of the IRGC Navy warns the vessels to stop inspecting and detaining Iranian fishing or commercial ships in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

He also warns them that they would face consequences according to the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran if they ignore this notice.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Sunday, the IRGC refuted the claims by the US that Iranian forces behaved in a dangerous manner when faced with US Navy vessels.

The IRGC further blamed Washington as the main source of insecurity in the West Asia region and called for the full withdrawal of all American forces.