Iran does not consider Israeli threat over, army chief says
Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, Iran’s Army Chief
Tehran does not believe the threat from its enemies has ended following the June conflict with Israel, Iran’s top army commander said on Sunday, adding that the Islamic Republic’s missile and drone capabilities remain fully operational and intact.
"A 1% threat must be perceived as a 100% threat. We should not underestimate the enemy and consider its threats as over," Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami said on Sunday.
He added that the Islamic Republic's missile and drone power "remains standing and ready for operations."
Last month, Iran's president said that the country is ready for further conflict with Israel as tensions continue to simmer, saying that he does not believe that the fragile ceasefire is final.
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.
Hatami, addressing senior commanders of the Army’s Ground Forces, accused Israel of pursuing various plots against Iran “under the illusion that it could harm the Islamic system.”
He said Tel Aviv’s “miscalculation” was exposed during the 12-day war, which saw Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliation in June. “With the miraculous steadfastness of the Iranian people, Israel realized it had made a strategic mistake."
“We continued our attacks until the very last moment before the ceasefire,” Hatami said, hailing Iran’s defense posture.
Hatami warned that the country’s adversaries should expect Iran to pursue its military and scientific development “with more resolve than ever.”
On Saturday, an Israeli air force commander involved in the June war with Iran said the country has no choice but to prepare for another round of fighting.
Known only as T, the commander of the 9th UAV squadron for the past three years, told Israel Hayom: "There is no arena in which we can rest on our laurels, and there is no choice but to prepare for another arena against Iran."
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.
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.
Iran's intelligence ministry issued a lengthy statement asserting alleged successes amid a punishing 12-day war with Israel last month which it said scotched elaborate regime change plans by an array of foreign and domestic enemies.
The ministry said it had thwarted assassinations plots against 35 officials, conducted raids and made arrests targeting the Baha'i religious minority, evangelical Christians, foreign-baed dissidents, Sunni Muslim jihadists, separatists, monarchists and media organizations acting in league with Israel.
Hundreds of military personnel, nuclear scientists and civilians were killed in Israel's surprise campaign last month including top commanders, in major intelligence lapses the statement appeared aimed at addressing.
"What happened during the 12-day imposed was a war plan with planning and full-scale utilization of combined military, security, intelligence, cognitive warfare, disruptive actions, assassination, sabotage, destabilization and incitement of internal unrest," the statement issued on Monday said.
The multifarious plots, it added, were "aiming for the delusion of subjugating and forcing Iran to surrender and overthrowing the sacred Islamic Republic,” it added.
Israel was able to launch deadly attack drones at senior military Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) leaders from inside the country, killing the armed forces chief of staff, IRGC leader and the elite unit's commanders of aerospace and military operations.
An Iranian analyst alleged in a newspaper interview last week that Israel caused over 100 Iranian missile launchers to explode upon activation during the war last month and that it had hacked the country’s entire air defense system.
The daughter of a top Iranian military commander assassinated by Israel last month said her father was chased down and killed by Israeli agents in a hot pursuit in Tehran and not an airstrike as originally reported.
Not offering explanations for any lapses, the ministry said it "detected and neutralized" Israeli plots to assassinate 23 senior civilian and military officials during the conflict and 13 similar attempts in the months leading up to it.
'Thugs, rebels'
The ministry alleged that it had carried out successful intelligence operations inside Israel, saying its activities were ongoing.
"Numerous and varied offensive and intelligence measures (aggressive espionage) were carried out in various cities of the occupied territories against the interests of the Zionist regime and the criminal gang that rules it."
Israeli authorities say they have uncovered more than 25 cases of Iranian recruitment over the past year, with more than 35 people indicted on serious security charges.
"One of the approaches implemented was to recruit intelligence and operational agents from the regime’s innermost military and security layers," the ministry added. "The larger and more sensitive part of the missions is still ongoing."
The ministry said it had faced down threats from street thugs to the NATO alliance.
"The enemy sought to activate criminals, diverse terrorists in various guises, deploy awaiting spies, conduct assassinations and sabotage, and to mobilize mercenaries, monarchist remnants, thugs, rebel groups, and dormant hypocrite cells to inflame tensions, provoke dissatisfaction and professional protests, and turn conditions into uncontrolled street riots and chaos”, the statement said.
"We faced not only the petty Zionist regime but also the Western intelligence-security NATO,” it added.
A June 23 Israeli air attack on Evin Prison - known for housing dissidents and foreign detainees - was aimed at catalyzing a nationwide revolt, the ministry alleged. Iranian authorities said 80 people were killed in the attack and Amnesty International called for it to be investigated as a war crime.
“We detected and fully neutralized a Mossad-directed monarchist plot to launch and dispatch armed operational teams from across the country to Tehran on June 22 for terrorist actions the next day (during the Evin prison bombing) targeting nearby military and law enforcement centers," the ministry said.
“This monarchist-Zionist scenario was thwarted by identifying involved agents, striking enemy operational teams, and arresting 122 mercenaries across 23 provinces before any terrorist action in Tehran."
