The Iranian army has recently conducted secret missions and will continue to do so, the commander of the Iranian army Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Tuesday.

:: The Iranian army has recently conducted secret missions and will continue to do so, the commander of the Iranian army Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Tuesday, reported the semi-official Mehr news agency.

“Some of the measures recently taken by the army were not reflected [in the media] for special security and intelligence reasons,” said Mousavi, adding: “This trend will continue for some of the important and secret operations in order to protect the regime’s interests.”

Conducting major operations “in anonymity and without propaganda” has more value, he said.

“The mere fact that we put our lives on the line against enemies and they feel our slap in their face is enough for us,” Mehr quoted Mousavi as saying.

Iran has been accused of destabilizing the region in numerous ways, including its support for terrorist and proxy groups and its continued missile program. Iranian proxies in Yemen and Iraq have targeted US allies with drone and missile attacks, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) seized the British-flagged oil tanker the Stena Impero in July 2019.

Iran also claims to carry out regular missile tests. In August, deputy defense minister Ghasem Taghizadeh boasted that Iran has “highly accurate” missiles which it has kept the secret to “surprise the enemies.”