IRGC chief warns any country that attacks Iran will be ‘main battlefield’

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday that any country that attacks the Islamic republic will see its territory turn into the conflict's “main battlefield.”

“Whoever wants their land to become the main battlefield, go ahead,” Guards commander Hossein Salami told a news conference in Tehran. “We will never allow any war to encroach upon Iran's territory.”

Salami's statements come after Iran came under fire after recent attacks that targeted Saudi Aramco's oil facilities on September 14. The United States has said that initial investigations of the attacks show that Iran was in some way responsible. Iran denies any responsibility.

“Be careful, a limited aggression will not remain limited. We are after punishment and we will continue until the full destruction of any aggressor,” Salami, said in remarks broadcast on state TV.

Salami added that Iran will continue to down drones that “violate its airspace.”

A US military drone had been shot down in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in June.

The US military confirmed the incident and said that it took place in international airspace, challenging Iran’s account that the US aircraft had been flying over Iranian territory.