Iran issues new civil defense shelter directive amid warnings of renewed war
A plume of smoke in Tehran following an Israeli airstrike in June 2025
A new national plan for civil defense training and shelter preparedness has been approved, Iran’s top military official said Saturday, just days after Israeli media warned of another potential war with Tehran.
“The new directive defines the responsibilities of executive bodies in building and managing shelters and emergency housing,” said Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, who chairs Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff.
The announcement follows a report aired Thursday by Israel’s Channel 12, which cited analysts warning that both Iran and Israel appear to be preparing for another round of fighting despite a ceasefire in their 12-day conflict in June.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian also warned this week that “Israel may attack again at any moment,” adding that Iran’s armed forces are fully prepared to repel any aggression.
"Today, within the armed forces, we are pursuing different preparedness programs across three timeframes—short-term, medium-term, and long-term," Mousavi said. "Improving readiness in the civilian sector and securing infrastructure must also be addressed with this same approach."
The new civil defense directive comes as Iranian authorities face criticism over the country’s vulnerability to airstrikes.
During the war with Israel, observers highlighted the lack of functioning air defense systems, early warning sirens, and public shelters.
Iran's government says 1,062 people were killed during the 12-day conflict with Israel, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians.
Iranian strikes also killed 29 civilians and one off-duty soldier, Israeli media reported.
Iran’s president will head a newly revived Defense Council, a body composed of top military and security officials that played a key role in Iran's military decisions during the 1980s, a Revolutionary Guards-affiliated outlet reported on Saturday.
The council’s formation was reported a day earlier by state media as part of what they called structural reforms to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
Tasnim News, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said the body is intended to oversee national defense policies and streamline military decision-making.
The Defense Council already existed in the Islamic Republic's Constitution and is now being revived decades after it was active during the early years of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Mansour Haghighatpour, a politician close to Ali Khamenei's advisor Ali Larijani, told Eghtesad News on Saturday.
Tasnim wrote that the formation of the Defense Council has taken place within the framework of Article 176 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, which allows the SNSC to establish “subsidiary councils such as the Defense Council and the National Security Council” in accordance with its responsibilities.
"The Council's objectives appear to be supporting the comprehensive strengthening of the country’s defense capabilities, as well as accelerating and improving the efficiency of decision-making in the defense sector," the Tasnim report said.
The council’s members will include the judiciary chief, parliament speaker, commanders of the IRGC and the army, the intelligence minister, the chief of the armed forces general staff, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, and two Supreme Leader representatives at the SNSC, it added.
Fars News, another outlet linked to the Revolutionary Guards, said Friday the Defense Council is part of a wider reconfiguration of Iran’s security apparatus.
“With structural reforms in the Supreme National Security Council finalized, informed sources report the establishment of a new body called the ‘Defense Council’ — a strategic council tasked with overseeing national defense policies, whose structure is expected to be finalized soon,” it wrote.
The same report said Larijani is expected to be appointed as the new SNSC secretary, replacing Ali Akbar Ahmadian.
Larijani, a conservative heavyweight and close advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, would be tasked with “forward-driving and strategic missions that require overarching coordination and management,” according to Fars.
'Saving Islamic Republic from collapse'
The revival of the Defense Council is a positive development, Haghighatpour said on Saturday, adding that it would transform the General Staff of the Armed Forces into a coordinating body rather than a commanding one.
“If we face serious conflict and our forces are to enter the field—considering that the army and the Guards constitute a combined force, with two air forces, two ground forces, and two navies—all engaging together requires a central command,” he added.
“Command must have a designated deputy, ensuring we are not caught off guard at critical moments.”
The Tasnim report said that “given the new security challenges and the complexity of regional and global threats, the revival of the Defense Council could lead to greater agility and focus in the country’s defense decision-making.”
Iran International's senior analyst Morad Vaisi believes the formation of the Defense Council is not meant to defend the people or the country but "to defend the Islamic Republic and prevent its collapse.”
“The surprise in the 12-day war has shaken Khamenei’s confidence in the military commanders, and he is now seeking to build more institutions above the IRGC, army, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces," Vaisi said.
During the conflict with Iran in June, Israel's air force took control of Iranian airspace, delivering a significant blow to the country's air defenses, while Iran's armed forces responded with successive waves of missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory.
Israeli military officials say that 120 air defense systems were destroyed or disabled since the first wave of attacks—around a third of Iran’s pre-war total. Long-range systems, including Russian-supplied S-300s and Iran’s Bavar-373 batteries, were among those targeted.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Saturday slammed efforts to promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a few days after a UN conference co-chaired by Saudi Arabia pushed for the solution.
“These satanic efforts are prescribing a two-state solution to end the Palestinian issue,” the IRGC said in a statement, marking the first anniversary of the Israeli killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“But the resistance remains firm on the path of martyr Haniyeh and others.”
The Guards said the path forward lies not in political compromise but in continued resistance. Quoting a Hamas slogan attributed to Haniyeh, the statement said: “We do not recognize Israel—never, never, never.”
A High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution took place at the United Nations in New York from July 28-30, 2025.
The conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed to revitalize efforts towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, with a focus on achieving a just and lasting peace.
Traditionally, Iran has advocated for the annihilation of Israel, rejecting a two-state solution that would create an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in 2015 that Israel must be destroyed within 25 years.
Gaza war
The IRGC's statement described the war in Gaza as a genocide carried out with the broader aim of seizing strategic and resource-rich regions of the Islamic world.
“Those who engineered the genocide in Gaza are undoubtedly pursuing larger goals—the swallowing of the Muslim world’s rich and strategic regions,” it said.
“But with God’s help, the breaking of global silence and the surge of anti-Zionist international protest will shatter the hopes and ambitions of the Zionist-American criminal band, which must now await the unmasking of its hidden fate.”
It also condemned the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, which occurred while he was in the city for Iran’s presidential inauguration.
The IRGC credited continued Palestinian resistance to what it called the legacy of Haniyeh and other slain leaders of the anti-Israel struggle.
“The Aqsa Storm was not a passing event but a strategic doctrine sealed by the blood of martyrs,” it said, referencing the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Since the October 7 attacks which saw at least 1,200 people killed and more than 250 more taken hostage by the militant group, Israel’s military campaign has killed over 53,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health statistics.
The Israeli military says at least 20,000 of those are militants.
Accusing Israel of using starvation and siege as instruments of war, the IRGC called on international organizations to recognize such tactics as war crimes and to impose serious sanctions on the Israeli government.
“The deliberate creation of famine is a recognized crime against humanity,” the statement said.
The IRGC, a powerful parallel military in Iran with extensive economic and intelligence roles, was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 2019 under President Donald Trump. Washington and Ottawa have called on European allies to follow suit.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has warned that regime change in Iran could produce outcomes “as bad or worse,” saying there is no guarantee that any successor to the Revolutionary Guards would be an improvement.
“There are lots of people in Iran who would like regime change,” Lammy told The Guardian, in an interview published on Saturday. “But there are no guarantees that what would replace the current Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps would not be as bad or worse.”
“The US decision to bomb was not to topple Iran’s government,” he added.
Lammy emphasized that the decision over Iran’s political future “is for the Iranian people to determine,” and that his focus remains on preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
Nuclear concerns remain central
Lammy also said Iran has failed to justify its production of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level far beyond what’s needed for civilian energy.
“Its leaders cannot explain to me, and I’ve had many conversations with them, why they need 60% enriched uranium,” he said, pointing out that enrichment in UK sites like Sellafield and Urenco does not exceed 6%.
He warned of a broader risk to the region: “We would be very suddenly handing over to our children and grandchildren a world that had many more nuclear weapons in it than it has today.”
Tehran denies talks aim at a deal
Lammy’s comments come amid renewed, but limited, diplomatic contacts between Iran and the so-called E3 — Britain, France and Germany. Tehran insists these are not formal negotiations.
“There are no talks aimed at reaching a deal with Europe at the moment,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told Russia’s Sputnik news agency. “These are exchanges of opinion.”
The discussions follow last week's meeting in Istanbul, the first such engagement since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian territory in June.
NPT threat underscores tensions
Iran International earlier this week reported that Tehran has warned it may withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the E3 moves to trigger snapback UN sanctions under Security Council Resolution 2231.
Tehran rejects the legal basis of such a move and accuses European states of aligning themselves with US and Israeli military actions.
Iran says diplomacy backed by Supreme Leader
A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday that the recent talks have full backing from the country’s top leadership.
“What is happening now is certainly the decision of the ruling system,” said Abbas Golroo, a senior lawmaker and member of the national security and foreign policy committee. He called the decision to engage diplomatically “the right one.”
Golroo said talks could help reduce threats and stressed the need to keep close ties with Russia and China. “Our backing must allow the team to protect national interests and manage challenges in these delicate conditions,” he said.
Iran is holding talks with European powers on its nuclear program, but no negotiations aimed at reaching a new agreement are currently underway, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in an interview published on Saturday.
“What is taking place now between Iran and the three European countries is an exchange of views on the nuclear issue, which has become highly complex,” Mohajerani told Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik.
She said Iran has never opposed dialogue with Europe but stressed that the current contacts do not amount to formal negotiations. “There are no talks aimed at reaching a deal with Europe at the moment,” she said. “These are exchanges of opinion.”
Talks follow high-level Istanbul meeting
Her comments follow last week’s meeting in Istanbul between Iranian officials and representatives from Britain, France and Germany, known collectively as the E3. The closed-door session marked the first formal nuclear discussions since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian territory in June.
Iran International earlier reported that Tehran had privately warned it may withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the E3 proceeds with reimposing UN sanctions under the snapback mechanism of Security Council Resolution 2231. The warning, conveyed by Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi, was described by diplomats as firm but not a declaration of intent to build nuclear weapons.
Tehran has rejected the legal basis of any E3 attempt to trigger sanctions, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei saying the three countries had “marginalized themselves” by aligning with the military action from Israel and the United States.
Lawmaker says talks approved by leadership
The current diplomatic activity was authorized by the ruling system, not initiated independently by diplomats, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday.
“What is happening now is certainly the decision of the ruling system,” Abbas Golroo, a member of the national security and foreign policy committee in parliament, told state media. “This decision to negotiate is the right one in my view.”
Golroo said recent talks could help reduce threats and widen diplomatic space for Iran, particularly as the country faces pressure over the possible reimposition of UN sanctions. He also stressed the importance of parallel diplomatic channels with China and Russia.
“Our backing must allow the team to protect national interests and manage challenges in these delicate conditions,” he said.
Iran plans to launch the second model of its Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite using the domestically developed Simorgh rocket after last week’s liftoff aboard a Russian Soyuz vehicle, the head of Iran’s Space Agency said on Saturday.
“The second Nahid-2 will be launched by the Simorgh rocket after final adjustments,” Hassan Salarieh, head of the Iranian Space Agency, said. “We have the internal capacity to carry out the launch ourselves.”
The current version of Nahid-2 was launched into orbit last week from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome as part of a multi-payload mission. Iran confirmed it was one of the satellites onboard after Russian media referred only to a “foreign customer.”
Heavier launchers under development
Salarieh said the Simorgh rocket can carry satellites of up to 300 kilograms into lower orbits and that Iran is also developing heavier launch vehicles, including the Sarir and Soroush classes, which are designed for larger payloads.
The Qaem-100 launcher, also developed by Iran, can carry up to 100 kilograms and was used last year in the launch of the Soraya satellite, which drew condemnation from Western governments, who said it "uses technology essential for the development of a long-range ballistic missile system."
Chabahar launch site expansion
Salarieh said the expansion of the Chabahar space base in southeastern Iran will allow access to a broader range of orbits and reduce reliance on foreign launch facilities. “With Chabahar, we will be able to carry out more launches throughout the year, using both domestic and international options,” he said.
