IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

A senior Iranian military commander rejected the possibility of reconciliation between his country and the United States, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al Arabiya reported on Sunday.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Forces commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh stressed that Iran would maintain its antagonistic position towards the US. “We will never permit the establishment of [friendly] relations with the United States, and no such relations will ever arise,” said Hajizadeh. Quoting the late Ayatollah Khomeini, he went on to say that the relationship between Iran and America was like that of a “lamb and a wolf.”

Hajizadeh was responding to comments made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who said that ties between the two countries could improve if Washington ceased its “hostility” towards Tehran.