Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Ali KhameneiReuters

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday urged the country’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to prepare against the "enemies".

The IRGC should continue inventing and building modern and advanced military hardware, Khamenei said, according to the Xinhua news agency.

"You must have all necessary defense, operational and intelligence equipment. However, these instruments must be manufactured and developed at home and meet all the needs of the country on the ground, in the sky and space as well as at sea and borders. Even the cyberspace is among the necessary instruments," he said.

The IRGC needs to "keep moving forward in tactical and strategic strengths, operate with constant alertness and readiness, and avoid even a moment of neglect," added Khamenei.

Tensions between the US and Iran have increased since President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal last May. He later imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran, the latest of which went into effect in November of 2018.

Iran, in turn, has scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal.

A commander in the IRGC recently declared that US regional bases and its aircraft carriers in the Gulf are within the range of Iranian missiles and warned, “Our missiles will destroy their aircraft carriers if they make a mistake.”

Trump officially designated the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in April.

"The Americans, through their hostile behavior toward the IRGC, have increased its dignity," said Khamenei on Sunday, according to Xinhua.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)