A man looks at a banner depicting US President Donald Trump displayed in front of the Zolfaghar and Zolghadr ballistic missiles exhibited at Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran’s capital, on August 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s acting defense minister says the Islamic Republic would be far more technologically advanced if another war were to break out, dismissing repeated US threats as lacking any \u201coperational value.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Brigadier General Majid Ibn al-Reza made the remarks in a meeting with managers of the Defense Ministry\u2019s industrial organizations on Sunday in response to recurring\u00a0threats and rhetoric by some American officials.<\/p>\n \u201cSome American officials think that they can change our will or intimidate the Islamic Republic by repeating threats, but they are gravely mistaken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added that the enemy’s persistence in making such threats does not show strength, but it is instead a sign of\u00a0paralysis in intelligence and analytical assessments and, ultimately, the erosion of its rationality.<\/p>\n Ibn al-Reza emphasized that the enemy must understand this \u201cvery simple and clear\u201d reality that it should not speak to Iran in a language of threats.<\/p>\n He reiterated that the Islamic Republic places no value on such threats, describing them as \u201cpolitical messaging\u00a0or political statements\u201d lacking genuine military credibility.<\/p>\n Addressing regional developments and the outcomes of the US and Israeli policies, the acting defense minister said,\u00a0“The developments and realities we are witnessing in the region today are the result of their wrong policies and miscalculations.”<\/p>\n He said Iran has never posed a threat to neighboring countries or regional nations and has consistently sought to distinguish between friends and adversaries, while it has clearly expressed this rational approach in practice and in various situations.<\/p>\n He noted that Iran has displayed only a small portion of its actual capabilities in the defense industry, emphasizing that efforts to strengthen the country’s defense sector continue unabated.<\/p>\n Ibn al-Reza affirmed that Iran is currently \u201cstronger, more united and more vigilant\u201d than at any other point in its history, adding that the country\u2019s defense and technological capabilities have continued to advance based on lessons learned from experience and the battlefield.<\/p>\n He also expressed Iran\u2019s full readiness to counter threats by relying on its own indigenous capabilities and independent strategies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Islamic Republic of Iran relies on its own will, capabilities, and indigenous capacities to secure its security and defend its interests,\u201d the acting defense minister pointed out.<\/p>\n Ibn al-Reza\u2019s comments came as top White House advisers have raised privately with US President Donald Trump the prospect that the war could drag on through the remainder of his term, a message at odds with Trump\u2019s public assurances of a swift victory, The Wall Street Journal reported.<\/p>\n The United States and Israel launched their illegal war of aggression against Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n Forty days later, on April 8, the enemies were forced to accept a ceasefire amid Iran\u2019s resistance, successful retaliatory operations, and a powerful grip on the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n In July, the United States conducted waves of deadly air raids on Iran and imposed a naval blockade of the country in violation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Republic, signed on June 17, to end the war.<\/p>\n In response, the Iranian armed forces launched devastating strikes against strategic American targets across West Asia and declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic.<\/p>\n