Referring to the reactions of US officials to the launch of Iran’s first military satellite into space, Hajizadeh said, “By assassinating Lt. Gen. Soleimani, they wanted to show that they killed a symbol of Resistance, and they were sure that Iran would not respond to their attack.”
“But then they felt somewhat threatened, so they announced that Washington would target 52 cites, including cultural ones, in case Iran targeted US forces,” he added, saying, “But we responded to them by an attack on Ain al-Asad base in Iraq.”
“The day, we attacked on Ain al-Asad, we thought the US forces would respond after 20 minutes, so we were ready to attack 400 American targets,” Hajizadeh noted.
“Our plan was to attack 400 US targets if they responded,” he added.
Referring to the successful launch of the first military satellite by IRGC, he also said, “Developed countries have suffered many defeats along the way, but we succeeded in the first step.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has developed these capabilities in recent years and with the help of Almighty God we will take the next steps quickly,” he said emphasizing solid-fuel launchers are equipped with the latest technology in the world.
"Today, gaining access to space and using it is not a choice. It is an inevitable necessity and we must find our place in space,” he added.
“We have great achievements in the field of missiles and defense in the world, and today we have successfully entered the space arena. I have to say that the obstacles have been removed from our path and from now on we will move faster,” IRGC commander said.
He also noted that such successes are reminiscent of relentless efforts and brilliant achievements have taken by martyrs such as Hassan Tehran Moghadam and other martyrs.
The elite force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has successfully launched the Noor-1 Satellite by the domestically-built launcher Qassed (messenger) on Wednesday morning and placed it into the orbit at an altitude of 425km. The launch of Noor-1 which is the Islamic Republic’s first military satellite was carried out on the anniversary of the establishment of the IRGC.
MNA/4908152