TEHRAN – U.S. officials have told Tehran that the United States is not seeking to engage in any military face-off with Iran, the Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Quoting international affairs analyst Sa’adollah Zarei, the news outlet said the official message was sent to top Iranian officials recently.

The expert underlined that there is no sign that the U.S. is seeking war with Iran. “To the contrary, there are a lot of indicators suggesting that America is avoiding military conflict with Iran and instead focusing on economic, political, and media wars.”

He also said the fact that Iranian military officials constantly state their readiness to face threats is part of the nature of their job.

Zarei’s comments came in the wake of the commander of the Iranian Army asking his forces to be ready as though an attack on the country was imminent.

IRNA quoted General Abdolrahim Mousavi on May 2 as saying, “All forces should prepare themselves as though an attack can occur tomorrow and continuously engage in war exercises”.

Mousavi was also quoted saying that “today’s threats are serious”. He added, “Of course these threats will not begin on land, but land forces must be ready”.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on May 1 of “the enemy’s war posture” and said that the enemy “only in appearance does not have a combat posture”.

SP/PA