Iran is ‘big brother’ of region, vice president says

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on Monday that the Islamic Republic is the “big brother” of countries in the region and would continue to support its smaller neighbors despite what he described as hostile actions by some states.

“Iran is the big brother of the countries in the region, although some of them attacked us and treated us unfairly,” Aref said during the opening ceremony of the Tehran Stock Exchange.

Referring to Iran’s warnings to neighboring countries during recent hostilities, Aref said Tehran had made clear that any facilities used by the United States against Iran could become targets.

“We officially told neighboring countries that if the slightest mistake by the United States originates from locations belonging to you, those locations will be our legitimate targets for defense,” Aref said.

Iran’s vice president also said that Iran’s adversaries had failed to bring people into the streets against the Islamic Republic during the two most recent wars.

“The enemy failed to exploit social capital and bring people into the streets against the system in either the 12-day war or the third war,” Mohammadreza Aref added.