Speaking to Basij commanders in Tehran, Taeb warned that the US is seeking to create divisions among political currents inside Iran, stressing that maintaining unity is essential to preventing Washington from achieving this objective.

He also emphasized the need to strengthen and demonstrate the country’s security power, saying the Iranian people demonstrated their faith and action during the recent US-Israeli war of aggression and increased domestic resilience through their presence in the field.

The Basij commander said Iran should not negotiate with the enemy out of weakness or fear. However, if the enemy requests surrender or negotiations, he said, Iran should enter talks from a position of strength and with the aim of securing its rights.

Referring to the planned 313,000-person popular exercise in Tehran on September 18, Taeb said the nationwide and Tehran-based million-strong “Devoted People” exercise would demonstrate the people’s steadfastness and power in confronting hostile threats and would strengthen public security and resilience.

The cleric also said the Zionist regime is awaiting its collapse on the 80th anniversary of the establishment of their regime, expressing hope that it would be eliminated sooner than the time predicted by martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.