Iranian authorities are preparing to respond to Israel's October 26 attack on the Islamic Republic's military sites, an advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Sunday.
"Military officials are planning various strategies to respond to Israel," Ali Larijani said in an interview with the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News.
Iran has been threatening to retaliate against Israel over the air strikes, which according to Israeli and US officials, knocked out Iran's last three Russian-provided S-300 air defense missile systems and left the country "naked".
Larijani's remarks came shortly after the body of an Israeli rabbi was found in the United Arab Emirates following his abduction by an allegedly Iran-linked cell, giving rise to suspicions that his assassination may be related to Tehran's plan to avenge the Israeli attacks.
Washington's 'shadow war' against Iran
In his Sunday interview, Larijani accused the United States of orchestrating the Israeli actions in the Middle East, including its operations against Iran.
"Israel was counting on the United States' support when planning its operation against Iran, with many US resources and aircraft operating in the region to assist them," he said.
"It can be said with certainty that the Americans are orchestrating events here. But why are they doing this? Because they prefer to engage in a "shadow war," staying out of sight while pushing others into the forefront," the senior advisor to Khamenei said.
He also called on the incoming administration of Donald Trump to stop its support for Israel and prevent what he called the tarnishing of the US image in the region.
"It seems that the United States and its current leadership, which has undergone changes, need to gain a proper understanding of the situation. The officials of the Zionist regime (Israel) are drowning themselves and dragging the Americans down with them, tarnishing the US's reputation in the region," he said.
Trump’s incoming administration plans to revive its “maximum pressure” policy to “bankrupt” Iran’s capacity to support its so-called Axis of Resistance and pursue nuclear development, The Financial Times reported last week.
Trump’s team is preparing executive orders for his first day in office that would tighten existing sanctions and introduce new ones on Iran’s oil exports, the FT report said citing unnamed sources.
Iran’s Statistics Center revealed that rental rates in urban areas rose by approximately 42% in the last 12 months compared to the same period last year. This rate significantly outpaced general inflation by 8.6 percentage points, despite a government-imposed cap of 25% on rent hikes announced in July.
Since July, following the implementation of a cap on rent increases, annual inflation in this sector, as reported by the Statistics Center, has been recorded at 41.4% in August, 41.7% in September, 41.8% in October, and now 41.7% in November.
Throughout these four months, rent inflation has exceeded general inflation. From September to November, rent inflation compared to general inflation has been reported to be higher by 6.6, 7.5, 8.2, and 8.6 percentage points, respectively.
The cost of renting has faced a significant surge since 2020, a combination of housing prices rising and the country's inflation rising since 2019. The government’s strategy of command pricing is not addressing the root causes of inflation, reported the financial newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad.
Rental price inflation is part of a wider trend of rising costs in Iran, with recent moves by the government signaling potential price increases in gasoline and automobiles. It comes alongside rising energy costs and insufficient incomes.
The government recently authorized controversial measures to burn mazut in power plants to address the energy crisis, exacerbating environmental and public health concerns. Meanwhile, a resolution by the Economic Council mandates higher gas tariffs to curb overconsumption, further burdening households.
Simultaneously, domestic carmakers Iran Khodro and SAIPA announced price increases of up to 30% for their products, citing financial losses and heavy debts. Critics have called the car market one-sided, accusing the government of supporting monopolistic practices by banning imports.
The situation is reminiscent of the 2019 fuel price protests which saw widespread unrest and the deaths of hundreds of protesters. Economists warn that any rise in fuel prices could trigger inflationary shocks across the economy.
Hossein Raghfar, an economist at Al-Zahra University told Jamaran News: “Raising fuel prices without addressing systemic economic issues will harm everyone and increase tensions."
As the Iranian government struggles to manage rising costs and budget deficits, the consequences of inflation are felt acutely by ordinary citizens with one third of Iranians now living below the poverty line and basic goods like food becoming ever harder to afford.
Speaking during an open session of parliament on Sunday, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticized the resolution, accusing the United States and European nations of using Iran's nuclear program as a pretext for unjustified actions.
He said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran's reciprocal response to this political misuse of the Board of Governors was immediately put into action, and the deployment of a set of new and advanced centrifuges has begun".
The IAEA resolution, backed by major Western powers, expresses concerns over Iran’s lack of cooperation in addressing undeclared nuclear sites and calls for full compliance with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Tehran, however, has dismissed these concerns and accused the agency of undermining trust through such decisions.
In a statement, France, Germany, the US and the UK criticized Iran’s response on Saturday, emphasizing the lack of credible peaceful rationale for expanding its nuclear program.
They warned that Tehran’s actions could deepen mistrust and further destabilize diplomatic efforts to address its nuclear ambitions.
“[We] note with serious concern Iran’s announcement that, instead of responding to the IAEA resolution with cooperation, it plans to respond with further expansion of its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful rationale."
They also added that with this resolution, the IAEA Board emphasizes the essential and urgent need for Iran to resolve outstanding issues.
The western nations raised hope that Iran will use the time leading up to this report to provide the necessary information and cooperation to address these concerns. Last year, Iran banned a third of the IAEA's inspectors throwing relations between the two into a crisis.
“[This way,] the Agency is able to provide assurance that Iran’s program remains exclusively peaceful, and the Board can close consideration of this matter. If it does not, it will be important that the Board remain engaged to meet the challenge that Iran’s continued refusal to meet its NPT-related nuclear verification obligations would present, including to the credibility of the global IAEA safeguards regime.”
The development comes amid the prolonged deadlock over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which Iran claims the resolution jeopardizes.
The IAEA’s calls for compliance and Iran’s defiance highlight the growing divide between Tehran and Western nations. As both sides dig in, the possibility of a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear standoff appears increasingly tenuous.