Armed Forces spokesman claims thousands more were wounded and says Tehran will continue efforts to drive US forces from West Asia

By Sadiq Abdulfatah

Iran’s Armed Forces spokesman, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, has claimed that more than 1,000 Israeli soldiers were killed in Iranian retaliatory strikes during the ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States.

Speaking on Monday, Shekarchi said the Iranian attacks had targeted Israeli military installations, strategic locations and intelligence centres across the occupied territories.

He also claimed that thousands of other Israeli military personnel were wounded during the joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran, which began in late February.

According to the Iranian military spokesman, the United States also suffered significant casualties. He said evidence indicated that hundreds of American servicemen had been killed and thousands wounded during Iranian drone and missile attacks on US military bases in the region in July.

Shekarchi accused Washington and Tel Aviv of concealing the true scale of their military losses and criticised what he described as their lack of transparency over casualty figures.

He cited the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying Washington had disclosed some American military deaths only years after they occurred and had subsequently returned the remains of the servicemen to their families.

The Iranian official also launched a broader criticism of the US military, describing it as a “Hollywood and propaganda army” that, in his view, has been built to exploit the resources of Muslim countries.

He said one of Iran’s major achievements during the conflict had been exposing what he called the “Hollywood façade” surrounding the American and Israeli militaries.

According to Shekarchi, the conflict had demonstrated the vulnerability of both forces and caused countries around the world, including some hosting US military bases, to lose confidence in Washington.

He argued that countries had increasingly recognised that a United States unable to defend itself could not guarantee the security of its allies.

The Iranian commander also addressed the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting claims by US President Donald Trump and his supporters regarding the strategic waterway.

He warned against any attempt to establish control over the strait and said Iran would not accept claims that the waterway could be treated as part of US territory.

“Our response to the US president and other [American] leaders is that they can merely fantasize about the Strait of Hormuz being regarded as part of their territory,” Shekarchi said.

He described Trump’s claims concerning the waterway as unrealistic and suggested they could be intended as psychological warfare against Iranian society.

Shekarchi further declared that Iran would not allow American military forces to remain in West Asia, saying Tehran was determined to drive them out of the region.

He also vowed that Iran would retaliate for the killing of the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

He included among those Iran intends to avenge students killed in a US strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, southern Iran, victims in the southern city of Lar, and other Iranian civilians killed during the joint US-Israeli attacks.

“The matter might take a while, either sooner or later, but it will certainly be carried out,” Shekarchi said.

The Armed Forces spokesman added that Iran’s adversaries were now attempting through other means to achieve objectives they had failed to accomplish through direct confrontation with the Iranian Armed Forces.

His comments come as tensions remain high across West Asia, with Iran continuing to frame its military operations as retaliation against US and Israeli attacks and warning that it will resist attempts to weaken its military and strategic position.

Source: Press TV