IRGC Aerospace Force Commander: We Do Not Need to Build Missiles That Can Reach U.S. Soil

IRGC Aerospace Force commander General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh met with members of the Student Basij at Sharif University at the IRGC Aerospace Exhibition, and footage of the meeting was aired on Emtedad Online (Iran) on November 15, 2021. General Hajizadeh said to the Basij members that it is unnecessary for Iran to strike targets on American soil because there is a significant enough American presence in the region surrounding Iran. Claiming that the majority of American forces are present in the Middle East, General Hajizadeh said that Iranian pressure on American forces in the region is in response to America’s 2020 killing of IRGC Qods Force commander General Qasem Soleimani. In addition, he said that Iranian security forces should have prevented the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and the recent cyberattack on the Natanz nuclear facility, and he blamed this failure in part on former Iranian President Rouhani’s “pro-Western” government. General Hajizadeh also said say tha