Report: Iran Prepares for Wider War as It Expects U.S. and Israel to Do the Same
Iran is using the current cease-fire to prepare for a broader confrontation, believing the truce is intended to give the U.S. and Israel time to ease pressure on the global economy and prepare for a larger attack, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing Iranian and Arab officials.
According to the report, Iran’s hard-line leadership has spent the past two months preparing for renewed fighting rather than relying on the memorandum of understanding signed with the Trump administration in June.
The preparations include expanding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ role within the regular armed forces, placing battle-hardened veterans in senior security positions, strengthening domestic intelligence operations and increasing missile and drone production.
Iran has also worked with allied militias in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon to prepare for a wider conflict, according to intelligence cited by the Journal. The Revolutionary Guard has reportedly positioned missile, naval and drone capabilities near the Red Sea and supplied Houthi forces with intelligence and potential targets.
Iranian officials have also threatened Gulf states with attacks on energy infrastructure if the U.S. strikes similar targets in Iran, the report said.
“The baseline is war,” Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat and nuclear negotiator with Iran, told the Journal. “Iran will remain on a wartime footing, preparing for a subsequent attack.”
Revolutionary Guard spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi said in July, “We took full advantage of the cease-fire period. We enhanced our capabilities, accelerated our missile production rate and improved missile accuracy.”
The Journal reported that Iran has also reorganized its security apparatus and appointed former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei to head the Supreme National Security Council and veteran security official Hossein Taeb to lead the Basij.