In a statement marking Sacred Defense Week on Tuesday, the IRGC said the eight-year war of the 1980s was more than a military confrontation, describing it as a period that strengthened social capital, national cohesion and strategic self-confidence.
It said the experience demonstrated that genuine power rests on faith, unity and the bond between leadership and the people, and that these lessons have since developed into a multilayered defense structure extending beyond Iran’s geographical borders into the cognitive, cyber, economic and strategic domains.
The IRGC said Iran’s Armed Forces have achieved a level of deterrent power based on domestic expertise, strategic innovation and defense self-reliance that enables them to neutralize threats at their source. It also pointed to the “historic” operations of True Promise during the second and third US-Israeli imposed wars as manifestations of this capability, saying they demonstrated Iran’s defensive strength and altered regional security arrangements.
The statement also described developments over the past year as contributing to the emergence of a new regional order, stating that Iran’s strategic management of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed the limitations of hegemonic powers. The IRGC said adversaries have shifted toward hybrid, cognitive, economic and media warfare after failing to achieve their objectives through military means, but maintained that national unity and domestic capabilities would enable Iran to thwart such efforts.
The IRGC reaffirmed its readiness to defend Iran and respond to any aggression, saying its forces remain fully prepared and “with their fingers on the trigger” to deliver a decisive response to threats.
The IRGC also renewed its pledge of allegiance to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei --the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces-- and the martyrs, concluding that Sacred Defense will remain a lasting symbol of national will and unity in confronting threats and advancing the country.