The spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the country’s adversaries are not in a position to launch another war, arguing that their initial objectives of regime change and territorial disintegration have already failed.
“I believe the enemy today neither has the power nor the conditions to begin a war,” Ali-Mohammad Naeini said in an interview with the podcast Story of the War on Sunday.
“They entered with maximal goals from the start. Now the question is, with what new motive or objective could they act again? When we speak of war, we mean the full-scale conflict that aimed to overthrow and divide the country.”
The problem for Iran’s adversaries, Naeini said, was not just weapons shortages but technological weakness. “Their real problem is the lack of advanced technology, inadequate air-defense systems, and limited technical knowledge,” he added.
“Even with what technology they possessed, they could not mount an effective defense, and there is still no sign of new strategic readiness that could improve deterrence or serve fresh objectives.”
Iran’s military readiness, he said, remains constant. “Preparations go on around the clock,” Naeini added. “From the youth of the Aerospace Force to ground units, the Basij, and senior commanders, everyone is in the field studying threats and developments.”
Response to Haniyeh assassination
Security officials, Naeini said, acted within hours of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, in a July 2024 Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran. “The National Security Council met immediately,” he said. “The conclusion was clear: a response was necessary.”
He said an investigation confirmed the strike was not internal sabotage. “A shoulder-launched missile entered through the window and struck while he was on a phone call,” Naeini said. “The attackers used his phone signal to locate and hit him.”
The follow-up operation, codenamed True Promise 2, he added, served both as retaliation and deterrence.
“That strike was not only a response to the assassination but also a boost to the regional deterrence posture and to the morale of our allies.”
Operations and missile strikes
The Guards, according to Naeini, conducted 22 waves of operations during the 12-day war. “We designed the campaign so the Israelis would continually experience going to their shelters,” he said.
“From the fifth to the eighth day, the battlefield superiority was absolute for us, and on the final day we enjoyed complete victory.”
Iranian forces downed at least 80 advanced drones and recorded 334 wrecks, he said. “These drones employed some of the world’s most advanced technologies,” Naeini added.
“Through cyber measures and short-range systems we neutralized those threats and restored relative air security.”
On June 23, 2025, the IRGC launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
“Fourteen missiles were launched; six hit the target,” Naeini said, adding that “about $111 million was spent by the US to counter them.”
Iran’s aim was deterrence, not escalation, Naeini maintained. “When we can force the enemy to its knees with our operational units, there is no need to widen the war.”
The 12-day conflict ended June 24 under a US-brokered ceasefire, but concern deepened as 400 kilograms of Iran’s highly enriched uranium remained unaccounted for.
Iran’s missile and drone power across all branches of the Guards “remains fully ready,” though “not all capabilities have been engaged, nor was there any need,” Naeini said.
“Messages are still being passed through various intermediaries, but this does not in any way mean the start of a negotiation process between Iran and the United States,” Baghaei said.
“No official message was conveyed to Iran during Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi’s trip to Oman.”
Takht-Ravanchi visited Muscat last week for a meeting of the Iran-Oman Political Strategic Committee, where he and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi discussed regional developments and plans to expand bilateral cooperation, according to Iranian media.
Recent commentary about a restart of direct or indirect talks had been imprecise, Baghaei said, adding that Tehran has received no formal communication from Washington via Muscat and that shuttle efforts are limited to narrowing gaps.
Diplomacy, he added, remains active with neighbors and partners, including Oman, while any talks must respect Iran’s rights under international law.
IAEA must avoid ‘baseless repetition’
Baghaei called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid repeating what he described as politically driven assertions about Iran’s nuclear program.
“The Director General has in fact reiterated that Iran’s nuclear activities have always been peaceful and there are no indications of a military dimension,” he said.
“The Agency should remain within its technical mandate and refrain from echoing unfounded claims made by certain parties only seeking pretexts.”
Iran suspended cooperation with IAEA inspectors after a 12-day war in June against Israel and the United States, codified via a new law passed by parliament.
Tehran’s cooperation with the Agency, he added, continues under its international commitments, but political manipulation of technical reports “undermines trust and objectivity.”
In September, Iran and the agency agreed in Cairo to restart inspections. However, after Germany, France and the United Kingdom triggered the reimposition of UN sanctions, it remained unclear whether Iran would comply.
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said satellite imagery shows continued construction at a major underground nuclear facility near Natanz.
No conditions for talks with the US
Baghaei dismissed suggestions of an imminent resumption of negotiations with Washington, saying the environment was not yet suitable. “Whenever we reach the stage of negotiations, decisions will be made regarding the composition of the negotiating team and other details,” he said.
“But at present, the conditions for a meaningful dialogue are not in place.”
Iran, he said, would only enter talks that respected its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“Our rights and interests must be respected… If the other side develops a realistic understanding and shows respect for Iran’s legitimate rights, then we can say conditions for meaningful dialogue will exist. At this stage, we are not there yet.”
Earlier this year, Washington and Tehran held five rounds of talks over Iran’s disputed nuclear program under a 60-day deadline imposed by President Donald Trump.
When the deadline expired without a deal on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign, prompting US airstrikes nine days later on June 22 that hit major nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow
‘US threats to Latin America condemned’
Baghaei also condemned what he described as US military threats toward Venezuela and other Latin American countries.
“We categorically reject the United States’ military movements in the Caribbean and Latin America,” he said. “Such actions are detrimental to international peace and security and have no legal justification.”
He cited international conventions that prohibit the use of counter-narcotics operations as grounds for violating sovereignty.
“Even under the 1988 convention on combating drug trafficking, there is a clear provision stating that such efforts cannot justify breaching national sovereignty,” Baghaei said. “The threats against Venezuela and others are legally and politically unacceptable and contradict the principles of the UN Charter.”
Baghaei said such behavior risked setting “a dangerous precedent” for international relations. “We are concerned that these actions could normalize interventions by other states elsewhere in the world.”
“They have no nuclear capability, no,” Trump said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview aired on Sunday, adding that he had “blasted the hell out of” Iran and praising US pilots for operations he said were conducted in Iranian airspace.
Trump said progress on Arab-Israeli normalization would have been impossible “if you had a nuclear Iran,” arguing that curbing Tehran’s capabilities was a prerequisite for any agreement.
He added, “You could’ve never had any kind of a deal if you had a nuclear Iran… And I blasted the hell out of ’em,” while also saying the United States halted operations, characterizing his decisions as calibrated to deter Tehran while preserving space for diplomacy. “We stopped,” he said. “When it was time to stop, we stopped.”
The president described Iran as wanting an agreement even if they don’t say it, and cast a potential understanding with Tehran as “the key to peace in the Middle East.” He did not outline new diplomatic proposals or timelines.
Iranian officials have long rejected US accusations about nuclear ambitions, saying enrichment and related activities support power generation and medical research. The International Atomic Energy Agency has previously urged Tehran to address questions about its program.
Trump’s remarks come as Washington and regional partners weigh next steps on containment and possible talks with Tehran amid intermittent back-channel messaging.
In Mashhad, the report said, grave prices have reached record levels. Plots in municipal cemeteries range from sixty million rials (about $55) in public sections to more than 18 billion rials (around $16,700) for private family plots.
Mashhad is home to the burial site of the eighth Shia Imam.
In cemeteries near or inside the shrine itself, graves cost between 1 billion and 14 billion rials (roughly $925 to $12,950) depending on the location.
Iran's state-run Supreme Labor Council has set the base salary at roughly 104.4 million rials. At current market rates at about 1,080,000 rials per dollar, that monthly wage is worth about $95–$110 depending on benefits, compared with about $238–$300 in 2016.
The exorbitant prices have driven many urban families to seek cheaper grave options in rural areas, the report said.
“City people have filled our village cemetery,” said Fatemeh, a resident of a village near Mashhad. “They bury their dead here because it’s free, but now we no longer have space for our own.”
Residents in neighboring villages also said outsiders bring bodies at night to avoid restrictions, prompting local officials to consider fencing off village cemeteries.
Families interviewed by Shargh described how the rising costs have turned burials into a display of social status. One woman said her family spent nearly 20 billion rials (about $18,500) to honor her grandmother’s wish to be buried near the shrine.
“We had to sell everything to fulfill her will,” she said.
Another mourner said she faced criticism for burying her father outside the shrine: “It’s become a matter of prestige – people boast about where their dead are buried.”
National trend: the business of death
Across Iran, burial prices have become a nationwide controversy. In Tehran’s main cemetery, some family plots sell for several billion rials, while officials insist prices follow city council regulations. Reports have also surfaced of an underground grave mafia profiting from limited space in older cemeteries in Shiraz and Isfahan.
Tehran’s city council recently confirmed that a three-tier grave costs about 330 million rials (around $305), with the first burial officially free and the next two layers reserved for relatives. The policy, however, has fueled confusion and criticism online.
The municipalities in cooperation with the ministry of health drafted new regulations last June to improve standards in cemeteries. However, there are still no laws defining or limiting grave prices.
“There is no law regarding the price of graves, and the only limits are those approved by the city council,” Marzieh Mohebbi, a legal expert, told Shargh.
Under Iranian law, she added, pre-purchasing a grave is considered the sale of a right of use – “something similar to a permanent lease” – and cannot be transferred to another person.
The outlet said the 2024 summer was “the driest season in twenty years,” turning rivers into “lifeless channels” and leaving many wetlands -- including Lake Urmia, Bakhtegan, Gavkhouni, and Hamoun -- either completely dry or severely depleted.
Official data from the Ministry of Energy cited by Tasnim showed that the country received 36 millimeters less rain than usual, with all nine major watersheds recording significant drops in precipitation. Southern provinces such as Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, and Bushehr saw rainfall decline by as much as 90%.
Water reservoir levels have also plummeted. Total storage in Iran’s dams has fallen to 39 billion cubic meters, about 15% lower than last year, while more than 60% of major dams are operating below half capacity, the report said.
Environmental authorities warned that wetlands across the country are on the brink of collapse due to a combination of drought, overextraction of groundwater, and mismanagement of water resources.
Experts quoted in the report said Iran’s worsening water crisis is no longer a temporary drought but a structural challenge caused by decades of poor management, overuse of groundwater, and unchecked dam construction.
They urged a shift in water governance and consumption patterns, warning that without urgent reforms, “Iran will sink deeper into a permanent state of water scarcity.”
