Iran needs to boost preparedness to counter enemies' 'hybrid threats': Top general

Iran’s highest ranking military commander warns that enemies are posing "hybrid threats" against the country, stressing the importance of boosting preparedness to combat such a menace.

Addressing a military ceremony in Tehran on Saturday, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly stressed the need to pay attention to hybrid threats.

"In fact, we are currently facing hybrid threats. Military, security and cultural threats as well as emerging and sometimes unknown threats… and we have to get prepared for such a ... confrontation," Baqeri added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the top military commander hailed great efforts by police forces to establish national order and security given the recent unrest in the country caused by enemies’ plots.

Baqeri added that enemies resorted to a "petty excuse" in the past days in a bid to carry out a "big plot and [acts of] sedition" against the country and prevent its progress, however, the noble and wise Iranian nation expressed its support for the Islamic establishment in the face of arrogant powers' plots.

He also warned of enemies' efforts to sow discord among the Iranian Armed Forces, saying they have failed to achieve their goal thanks to cordial relations and coherence among all sectors of the military forces.

Meanwhile, addressing students at Tehran's Alzahra University on Saturday, President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi said the enemy is seeking to realize its fanciful dreams by instigating riots in universities and academic institutions, but their plots will fall flat with the vigilance of students and academic lecturers.

SS