The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ground forces are “five times better” than the American army, and Iran could deploy nine million troops against it in less than ten days, said former Corps minister Mohsen Rafighdoost last month in a Tehran speech.

“[Our] air force and navy are good, but it is [our] ground forces that finish the war. The IRGC’s ground forces are perhaps five times better than the American army,” said Rafighdoost during his speech, translated this week from Arabic by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“Despite all the enemy media and cultural propaganda against us, if America wants to try its luck against us, [it should know that] we are completely capable of mobilizing nine million fighters [against it]… on the [battle]front in under 10 days.”

Despite every attempt on the part of the current administration to turn the Islamic regime into a cooperative friend, including the signing of a nuclear deal which lifted virtually all sanctions against Iran, the regime has remained extremely hostile to all American overtures.

It has repeatedly threatened the US with aggressive military action, with the Commander General of the IRGC announcing in April that the Iranian army was preparing for “all-out war” with America. More recently, Iranian navy vessels have repeatedly harassed and chased American ships from around its waters.

Rafighdoost, who was minister of the IRGC during the 1988-1990 war against Iraq, also mentioned Iran’s other enemy, Israel, bemoaning the fact that no Israeli strike against Iran has yet fallen on the country to justify a devastating Iranian response.

Consistent with Iran’s announcement last May that it had developed a 2,000 kilometer range missile capable of reaching the Zionist state, Rafighdoost boasted, “We have warehouses full [of missiles] in Tehran, Zanjan and Oshnavieh that can strike Tel Aviv.”

“If only a single [Israeli] shell would strike anywhere in this country, so that we can flatten Tel Aviv.”

Rafighdoost credited Ayatollah Khomeni, the former Supreme Leader of Iran, with the creation of the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, explaining that Islamicizing other Arab countries had been part of Khomeni’s plan.

“Today, in the era of the Leader [Khamenei], [Hezbollah] has become a supreme force in the region,” he said proudly.