Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said on Thursday that the capabilities of the armed forces and Iran’s missile superiority provided a major victory for Iran and defeated plans to overthrow the regime and divide the country.
“The enemies have sought to impose their narrative on Iranian public opinion and perception through disinformation and propaganda,” he said.
“In this hybrid war, the enemies sought to carry out assassinations, sabotage, and acts of terror. Their efforts failed,” Khatib noted, according to ISNA news agency.
The minister said Iran’s losses were quickly contained through prompt appointments and prudent measures, combined with the zeal, strength, and power of its armed forces.
“The missile superiority of our forces brought a great victory for our country,” he said.
Khatib added that “the failure of the enemies’ plots once again proved the strength and unity of the Iranian people and institutions.”
Khatib’s comments came after several Iranian officials and military commanders have recently stressed Tehran's rejection of any negotiations with Washington that would affect its uranium enrichment program and limit its ballistic missile program.
“The Islamic Republic has developed and will continue to develop its missile program to any extent it deems necessary,” said Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of parliament’s national security committee.
While Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had previously capped missile range at 2,200 kilometers, he has now “removed any such limitation,” the deputy affirmed.
Ardestani noted that Tehran refuses to put “limits on its missile range,” which he described as its “most important element of military power.”
His comments came shortly after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met this week with members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee and briefed the lawmakers on his recent visit to New York where he attended the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Iranian deputy said US President Donald Trump is eager to achieve a peace deal with Hamas. “Similar to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, the US President is exhausted from the continued wars in the region.”
Ardestani also said “any peace agreement between Israel and Hamas could automatically lead to an undeclared calm between Israel, Hezbollah, Yemen, and even Iran.”
He added that “Western countries are betting on the return of UN sanctions to increase economic pressure on Tehran, thinking that this will make life more difficult and deepen the gap between the people and the regime, which could lead to internal protests.”
The deputy affirmed that if in six months those expectations are not fulfilled, “the West will withdraw its conditions imposed on Iran and will seek to negotiate with us.”
Meanwhile, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that “missiles are important, but people are more important. It’s the people who have kept Iran alive through the centuries.”
The former top diplomat told foreign-policy experts and reporters at a Tehran seminar on Wednesday that Israel and the United States share interests, but their strategic goals differ.
“America’s policy is not to bring about Iran’s collapse, but Israel —even during the Pahlavi era—believed that Iran was too big and must be broken apart,” he said.
