TEHRAN -- The Commander of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC), General Yahya Rahim Safavi underlined on Thursday that Iran will "sever the hands of any invader" who intends to encroach on its government and nation.

Safavi made the remark at a ceremony held in Garmsar, Semnan Province, in commemoration of local commanders who were martyred during the 1980-1988 Iraqi-imposed war.

"Iran will never start a war, but will unite to defend its independence and the Islamic Republic," he said quoted by IRNA.

"Today, our great nation is totally united to defend its independence and the Islamic Republic, so are the country's Armed Forces including the (volunteer) Basij with seven million members as well as the IRGC and the Army," Safavi said.

"We will never be a starter of a war, since we seek to build our country and eliminate poverty, deprivation and oppression and steer the Islamic Iran toward development and justice," he added.

The IRGC commander lambasted the U.S. government for its continued animosity and aggressive stance toward the Islamic Republic as indicated in President George W. Bush's recent branding of Iran as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea.

"No government is as much terrorist as the American, since it is supporting the biggest terrorist government in the world that is the usurper regime of Israel."

Denouncing the civilian deaths during the U.S. military blitz on Afghanistan, he said, "The U.S. government martyred the innocent Afghan people with thermobaric' bombs which suck up air and extinguish any life on their way."