Mohsen Rezaee, the former commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the current secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council said in a TV interview that “the slightest provocation from the United States will engulf the region in flames,” and added: ”The United States has ordered its troops to engage with Iranian forces if they get close”, therefore “USS Abraham Lincoln is not moving closer because they don’t need an unwanted conflict.” He said the American aircraft carrier is in a location where “we don’t need to get close to them. We do not intend to start a military conflict.”

In an interview with the state TV, Rezaee said: “The Americans know that Iran’s military capabilities are at a level that if they make the slightest move the whole region will be engulfed in flames.”

The secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council continued: “American military understands that a conflict with Iran will set fire to the whole region. Mr. Trump and Mr. Bolton know this, and that is why each week they keep repeating that they do not seek a military conflict with Iran.”

Rezaee boasted: “Our armed forces kept in shape. We never underestimate the enemy, and our vigilance is the most important preventive measure.”

The former commander in chief of the IRGC also claimed: “USS Abraham Lincoln does not get any closer, because the Americans do not seek an unplanned conflict. The Americans have repeatedly asked us to have a red phone. The type that exists between the Americans and the Russians. But there is no red phone between Iran and the United States at the moment, and there is the possibility that when the two forces get close to each other, a war would break out due to a single mistake.”