The top commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) says the Al Saud regime's empty talk against Iran does not go unanswered, and that Tehran's reactions to such hostile behavior are "covert but painful."

Asked by reporters about Saudi Arabia's belligerent rhetoric against Iran on the sidelines of a ceremony on Thursday, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said such rants are out of Riyadh's anger at the Islamic Republic's gains in the region.

"Iran's numerous successes in the region -- especially in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon -- has thrown Al Saud into intense confusion, and it is seeking to give [Iran] a response with such passive moves," said Jafari.

Iran's regional role, he added, irks Riyadh's rulers as it has led to "the awakening of nations in the region" and boosted the resistance movement.

The IRGC chief, however, said Riyadh's behavior does not remain unanswered.

The Islamic Republic's "responses to this regime are not mainly reflected in media or publicized and remain covert and hidden, but they are painful for them."

Over the past years, Iran has been on the front line of anti-terrorism battles in the Middle East. Tehran helped neighboring Iraq and Syria defeat Daesh -- the world's most notorious terror group -- and push the Takfiri outfit out of the territories it had captured during its campaign of terror and destruction.

In Syria, Iran -- along with Russia -- has been offering government forces military advisory assistance in their ongoing fight against the remaining terrorists operating in the Arab country.

The Takfiri terrorists operating in the region are widely believed to be inspired by Wahhabism, an extremist ideology preached by state-backed Saudi clerics.

Parallel to its anti-terrorism efforts, Tehran -- together with Moscow and Ankara -- has also been mediating a successful peace process, which has brought the conflicting sides in Syria to the negotiating table in Astana, Kazakhstan.

On Syria

Elsewhere in his comments, Jafari highlighted the peace talks underway on the Syria situation and said "the Syrian government has asked Iran to station units of peacekeepers in Idlib and northwest of Aleppo Province."

"There are currently no clashes in Syria, and a limited [number of] units are set to be deployed as peacekeepers to this region," he added.

Idlib and the nearby areas are the last major militant stronghold in Syria, which has managed to liberate almost all other areas of the country from the grip of terrorists thanks to Iranian and Russian assistance.

In September, a Russo-Turkish agreement was reached on the situation of Idlib with the aim of facilitating its liberation without any bloodshed. That deal has put on hold a concerted Syrian army operation against the militants holed up there.

‘US power on the decline’

The IRGC chief commander also played down the US's hostile campaign against the Islamic Republic and said sanctions are "the last tool" in Washington's hands for exerting pressure on the Iranian nation.

He reassured that the fresh wave of sanctions against Iran are doomed to failure like Washington's previous round of such bans.

“The US’s authority and dignity is on the decline, and the day will come, much sooner than expected, for the full elimination of this satanic power,” said the senior general.

“The US four decades ago could not do any damn thing [against Iran], let alone today’s America that is on the decline,” he added.