The downing of an American drone by Iran in June proved that the Islamic republic is capable of taking “significant measures” against the United States and that it will confront threats to its national security, Iranian Gen. Hossein Dehghan told the Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) during an interview last week.

Dehghan, formerly Iran’s defense minister and currently Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s adviser on defense affairs, said that Iran would not tolerate a situation in which it cannot export oil through the Persian Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz and in which America, Britain and Europe secure other countries’ oil exports.

He went on to say that Iran is unwilling to negotiate with President Donald Trump under any circumstances, and that there was a large rift among GCC countries, some of which he said had turned to Iran and do not support Trump’s positions.

He also claimed that the United States has adopted a “defensive approach” because American allies and American military assets in the Middle East are within range of Iran’s missiles. “Either everybody enjoys security and stability, or nobody does,” he said.

The full article is available on the MEMRI website.