US, Israel must accept 'a region free of their evil, criminal presence': IRGC

In a Monday statement issued on the occasion of Sacred Defense Week, marking the 46th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran, the IRGC described the Sacred Defense as a "brilliant and golden chapter in the generation of national will and unity" and a "strategic school for defense power generation and deterrence."

The Corps emphasized that the armed forces, with full readiness and strategic intelligence, stand with their fingers on the trigger, prepared to deliver decisive and devastating responses to the aggressor enemy.

"Sacred Defense was beyond a military event; it was a workshop for generating social capital, national cohesion, and strategic self-belief," the statement read.

"It taught the Iranian nation that true power lies in the depth of faith, unity of word, and the bond between leadership and the people. This teaching has today transformed into a smart and multi-layered defense system that transcends geographical borders and creates deterrence in cognitive, cyber, economic, and strategic domains."

'False glory of enemy shattered'

The IRGC highlighted the "great and historic manifestations" of Iran's power in the devastating waves of True Promise operations during the second and third US-Israeli-imposed wars, which it said, "shattered the hollow glory of the American-Zionist enemy and its supporters and rearranged the region's security arrangements in favor of the resistance front and the Iranian nation."

The statement added, "Strategic management of the Strait of Hormuz, breaking the glory of arrogant, anti-human, and satanic powers, and exposing the inability of the domination-seeking and terrorist American regimes have become undeniable facts. The world after these battles is a different world, a world in which the oppressed nations have come to believe in their capabilities, and the arrogant powers have been placed on a downward slope."

Enemy's shift to hybrid warfare

The IRGC warned that after failing on the military battlefield, the enemy has turned to hybrid, cognitive, economic, and media wars.

However, it stressed that the Iranian nation, relying on internal capacities, a resistance economy, and sacred national unity, will thwart every conspiracy.

"The armed forces, especially the proud guards of the Islamic Revolution, in this all-out battle, stand with their fingers on the trigger, ready to deliver decisive and devastating responses to any aggression," the statement said.

The IRGC concluded by emphasizing that the US and the Israeli regime "must understand this truth that they must sooner or later submit to a region free of their evil and criminal existence, and by divine grace, they will have no escape from this fate."

Sacred Defense Week marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, which began on September 22, 1980, and lasted eight years.

The war saw Iran withstand a massive military assault backed by global powers, ultimately repelling the aggressor forces.

The IRGC statement comes amid the ongoing US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, which began on February 28, 2026, and has seen Iran's armed forces carry out sustained retaliatory operations across the region.