Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC-QF, September 16, 2015

“Containing and weakening the Islamic Republic of Iran is an important policy of the US under present state of the region; the campaign is carried out through direct confrontation and through its proxies in the region near Iran’s borders; a second approach consists of attempts to make countries in the region more dependent on the US.”“US undergoing ‘serious damage’ in ME,” MEHR News Agency, September 16, 2015, http://en.mehrnews.com/news/110184/US-undergoing-serious-damage-in-ME.