Iran asks civilians to stay away from areas where US forces are present in the Middle East

This Friday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard called on civilians residing in the Middle East region to stay away from areas where US troops are present, after accusing these forces of trying to use civilian areas as “human shields.”

“The cowardly US-Zionist forces, which lack the courage and ability to defend their own military bases, are trying to use innocent people as human shields using civilian areas due to their fear of attacks,” he said, as reported by the Iranian public television channel, IRIB.

“Given that we have the duty to eliminate the terrorist US forces and the usurper regime – in reference to Israel – who relentlessly murder civilians and senior officials, wherever they are, we recommend that you leave the areas where US forces are present to avoid causing harm to them,” he stated in his recommendation to civilians in the region.

During the day on Thursday, the spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, stated that “the vital and defensive infrastructure of the Zionist regime, considered the heart of the United States, was destroyed, and there are now American soldiers hiding in hotels and civilian centers in countries in the region to escape Iranian missiles.”

“The Americans have been forced to flee their bases for the first time. Those who survived took refuge in hotels,” he highlighted, before calling on the countries in the region to inform Tehran of “the places where they are hiding.” “We will pursue them and take revenge for the Muslim nations,” he added.

In this sense, Shekarchi argued that if a hotel hosts American military personnel, “the hotel is American.” “When we want to hit, we have to hit where they are. If we don’t respond, the war is biased. Should we stand by and allow the Americans to hit us?” he asked, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, also maintained on social networks that “since the beginning of this war, American soldiers fled from military bases in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to hide in hotels and offices.”

“They use citizens of the GCC countries – whose official name is the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf – as human shields. In the United States, hotels reject reservations from officials who could endanger clients. Hotels in the GCC countries should do the same,” he concluded.

In their latest report, the Iranian authorities have confirmed more than 1,500 deaths due to the Israeli and United States offensive, including prominent figures such as the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Lariyani; and the Ministers of Defense and Intelligence, Aziz Nasirzadé and Esmaeil Jatib, respectively, as well as senior officials of the Armed Forces and other security organizations.

The offensive was launched in the middle of a process of negotiations between the United States and Iran to try to reach a new nuclear agreement, which has led Tehran to respond by attacking Israeli territory and American interests in the Middle East region, including military bases.