US Marine Corps colonel: Iranians are creative

A US Marine Corps colonel, who took command of a Marine unit taking part in military operations against Iran, says Iranian forces are "very creative and innovative."

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture was deployed to the Middle East in March this year to join other units from across the world to take part in the operation, including a US blockade on vessels entering or departing Iranian ports. The 31st MEU returned to Okinawa in July.

Colonel Chris Niedziocha, who was the commander of the unit at that time, spoke to NHK and other media at the Pentagon near Washington.

The colonel said that Iranian forces are "very creative and innovative" and "they have embraced unmanned systems." He said that every part of US forces was overflown and watched by the Iranians.

He also said that by the time the Marine unit had arrived there, the Iranian forces were already degraded, but they were adaptable. He said that the US troops needed to be very careful and always treat the Iranians with the utmost respect. He said, "If you make it easy for them, they are going to take advantage of it."

Asked how he compared the experience to threats from China, Niedziocha said that the Iranian forces did not have the capacity or capability the Chinese military would have, but "there certainly is a lot of lessons to be drawn from that."

He said, "We did spend a lot of time thinking, looking about how this applies to the First Island Chain," which refers to the island chain stretching from Japan's Nansei Islands through Taiwan to the Philippines.