The sources say Tehran is likely to use its new economic and military assets to equip its proxies, formal and informal , state and non-state, in the region in much more aggressive ways. The Iranian message on its nuclear armament is crystal clear. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s is always the last word in any important matters of the state. His top advisor Ali Akbar Velayati has rejected the idea of international inspection of military sites. Iran’s defense minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan has declared he would not allow inspectors to visit Iranian military sites. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammed Ali Jafari has been very sensitive about “the very critical red line” of “maintaining and upgrading Iran’s defense capabilities.”
The sources add that in the present situation the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency cannot conduct essential interviews to resolve the outstanding questions over Iran’s past work on weaponization. The final deal of July 14 in Vienna requires the IAEA to provide an assessment over the possible military dimensions (PMDs) of Iran’s nuclear program by December 15.
Besides, Major General Qassem Suleimani, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force, visited Moscow the other day despite being under a travel ban and United Nations Security Council sanctions that prohibit him from leaving Iran. Suleimani met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Suleimani’s movements and activities cannot be treated lightly. He has allegedly been behind training and supporting the forces of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as leading Shiite militias in Iraq. Suleimani was also designated for his role in the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States in 2011. Not long ago, outgoing U.S. Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno said : ” Soleimani is the one who has been exporting malign activities throughout the Middle East for some time now. He’s absolutely responsible for killing many Americans. … I would say the last two years I was there( Iraq) the majority of our casualties came from his surrogates, not Sunni or Al Qaeda.”