Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities have signalled they may shift to a extra offensive method to the warfare with the US as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Washington expires.
Brigadier Common Yadollah Javani, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), instructed state tv on Sunday evening that his forces have been able to take no matter motion is required to defend the nation.
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Tensions between Iran and the US over management of the Strait of Hormuz have continued to rise regardless of a ceasefire being agreed between them in June. Whereas the MoU successfully collapsed after preventing restarted final month, the settlement formally expires on Monday.
“The enemy began the warfare and our efforts have been defensive, though they could tackle an offensive facet,” mentioned Javani.
He didn’t elaborate on what precisely the offensive measures may entail, however mentioned opponents ought to count on “strategic surprises”.
IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi final week recognized US and regional allies’ infrastructure – reminiscent of power networks, energy vegetation and internet-connected techniques – as potential targets, if the US hits Iran’s civilian infrastructure.
Hardline Iranian politicians and media retailers have mentioned the thought of mounting a floor incursion in opposition to US pursuits in Bahrain and Kuwait if Washington invades Iran.
Analysts have raised questions over the feasibility of that and the dangers concerned, whereas there isn’t any current indication that the US is planning floor operations in Iran.
The Iranian emphasis on offensive deterrence in opposition to the US comes after Supreme Chief Mojtaba Khamenei, considered as a hardliner, consolidated his power by appointing a number of IRGC previous guard and confidants to key navy and safety positions final week.
Khamenei mentioned Main Common Ahmad Vahidi’s rise to commander-in-chief of the IRGC should symbolize a mixture of “most deterrence” with readiness for “highly effective offensive operations in opposition to the enemy”.
Vahidi mentioned Khamenei’s management and the Iranian armed forces had managed to “deliver to its knees essentially the most heavily-armed military in world historical past” after the US and Israel launched strikes in Iran on February 28, beginning fierce preventing between the 2 sides.
US President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday his declare that Iran was defeated within the warfare whereas dealing with a naval blockade appearing as a “wall of metal”. He additionally mentioned the Strait of Hormuz would “fairly quickly” be declared US territory.
The White Home later advised that remark was a joke, however Iran’s military chief, Amir Hatami, reacted by setting a $30,000 reward for any man who kills or captures a US soldier, if they’re concerned in any floor operation on Iranian soil. Ladies could be given twice the reward in the event that they managed such a feat, he added.
“Our fingers are open when it comes to reaching the aggressors and they’re going to change into extra open by way of our initiatives,” Hatami mentioned, referencing current Iranian attacks on US forces in Jordan.
Mohsen Rezaee, who has the highly effective place of secretary of the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, advised that the Trump administration might need been contemplating floor operations on Iranian territory, however held off on account of “half-baked plans”.
Rezaee mentioned that the US Central Command had avoided hitting Tehran or northern Iran through the two-week flareup in preventing in July, as an alternative attacking about 50 cities in 15 provinces.
He believed that the aim of the air raids was to arrange for a floor assault to take management of the Strait of Hormuz and probably attain nuclear services in Isfahan, the place highly-enriched uranium is suspected of being buried underneath the rubble of US strikes.
Bridges, roads, maritime control towers, radar and different coastal installations, and navy services have been struck to chop off logistical provides to southern Iran, Rezaee famous.
“That they had not calculated that to land troops for the Strait of Hormuz, it’s not doable with 40,000-50,000 troopers, it’s essential to deliver at the very least 100,000 individuals,” he mentioned. “You will need to cross the Zagros Mountains and be capable to go the Fars province.”
Iranian media and commanders have reported in current weeks that situations are in place to defend particular person islands and coastal areas in southern Iran that the US navy would possibly take into account seizing. They embody the essential oil export terminals on Kharg Island.
Iranian territories across the Strait of Hormuz have been strengthened with rapid-response models.
Military spokesman Mohammad-Reza Akraminia mentioned final week that the intention can be to stop any overseas troops touchdown on Iranian territory.
“If the Individuals enter one in every of our islands, we will definitely goal them on our personal islands, not to mention on different international locations’ soil,” he instructed state TV.
Authorities have additionally signalled they’re prepared for any unrest provoked by separatist teams close to Iran’s western borders with Iraq and Turkiye, or within the east with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The IRGC has reportedly bolstered defences and continued to launch missile and drone strikes in opposition to armed teams based mostly in Iraqi Kurdistan.
![A U.S. sailor launches an F-35C Lightning II, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during the ongoing conflict with Iran [U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-08-13T142604Z_1808568210_RC2LSMAD8MX4_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-CRISIS-USS-LINCOLN-1786892589.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Iran shrugs off expired MoU
Javani, the political chief of the IRGC, mentioned in a separate interview on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz will solely totally reopen when Washington implements commitments agreed underneath the MoU signed in June.
Iran’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned {that a} two-month window to halt preventing was not particularly talked about within the MoU textual content. The ministry additionally dismissed that the expiration had any explicit significance to the warfare with the US, or Tehran’s ongoing talks with Oman concerning Hormuz.
“It has been confirmed many instances that the Islamic Republic of Iran isn’t a celebration to plot its insurance policies underneath strain, ultimatums and deadlines. We determine based mostly on our evaluations of what ensures nationwide pursuits and safety,” Baghaei instructed reporters throughout a briefing on Monday.
He mentioned the talks with Oman have thus far been delayed in producing an association on the partial reopening of Hormuz as a result of authorized and technical complexities, the a number of actors concerned and “ill-wishing events” looking for to spoil the method.
Parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mentioned throughout a speech on Sunday evening that the MoU was a “doc of pleasure and victory within the subject of diplomacy”.
Ghalibaf insisted that the Islamic Republic had emerged “victorious”, each politically and militarily, from the warfare with the US and Israel.
“I don’t imply that we destroyed their armies, I imply that they attacked us whereas clearly and repeatedly citing 9 targets, however didn’t obtain any of those targets at any stage. That was the most important abject failure for the US and the Zionist regime,” he mentioned.
Ghalibaf has not but managed to persuade the Iranian management to agree on a long-term diplomatic decision with the US to finish the warfare.
