Regime adviser says Tehran could be forced into pre-emptive strikes if stalemate continues
Senior Iranian officials believe the US is planning either further military strikes or an ever-tightening economic stranglehold that will push Tehran into retaliatory action.
The assessment comes from Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Mohammadi said on his Telegram channel that the Americans had proposed a timeframe of about two weeks after which Donald Trump would make a decision on military action. Mohammadi, who is regarded as a reliable indicator of Ghalibaf’s thinking, cast doubt on the US president’s claim that the military option was off the table. He claimed Washington was preparing for a limited strike and Iran was already preparing a response.
If the US sanctions continued, he said, a comprehensive pre-emptive war would be needed “to increase the cost of sanctions for the enemy”.
Mohammadi described the US response to Iran’s latest proposals on reopening the strait of Hormuz as “not only unsatisfactory but completely deceptive”. “They do not want to release the frozen funds,” he said. “They do not want to lift the sanctions and they do not want to stop the war in Lebanon.”
He also disclosed that Iran had rejected a request from the US vice-president, JD Vance, for a direct…
