Tehran views the ceasefire with Israel as a new phase of an ongoing war, the intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday, as Iran's security establishment doubles down on confrontational rhetoric toward its arch-nemesis.
A June 24 ceasefire ended a surprise 12-day Israeli military campaign which killed hundreds of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. 29 Israeli civilians were killed in Iranian counterattacks.
“The war has not ended. We are in a state of temporary pause,” Brigadier General Majid Khademi said in a speech marking the 40th-day memorial ceremony in Mashhad for his predecessor, Mohammad Kazemi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict.
“The enemy is conducting cognitive operations, intelligence warfare and psychological attacks, pinning its hopes on creating internal crises. Therefore, the people and officials must enter the field with vigilance,” he added.
On June 13, Israel commenced heavy bombing of Iran’s nuclear and military sites in a conflict capped off by US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, before a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on June 24.
Among those killed during the war were several senior military leaders, including Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami, IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh and IRGC Deputy for Operations Mehdi Rabbani.
Tasnim, a news outlet affiliated with the IRGC, on Thursday published a lengthy article saying Iran's repaired air defenses and intact missile stocks could wreak even more damage on Israel in a renewed conflict.
Warning to E3 over snapback threat
Khademi also warned United Kingdom, France and Germany—the so-called E3— against triggering the so-called snapback mechanism triggering United Nations sanctions under a 2015 nuclear deal, accusing Israel of trying to manipulate them as it did the United States.
“Today as well, the Zionist regime is trying to push the Europeans into the same strategic mistake witnessed in the snapback mechanism case. Just as they previously misled the United States, they are now steering Europe toward taking hostile actions against Iran. We are issuing this warning explicitly.”
His comments come amid growing concern in Tehran that Britain, France and Germany may move to trigger the snapback mechanism before the 2015 nuclear deal’s 10-year term expires in October.
The snapback, created under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, lets any party to the 2015 nuclear deal restore UN sanctions if Iran is found non-compliant. If no resolution is passed within 30 days to extend sanctions relief, all previous measures return automatically.
Last Saturday, Iran's government spokeswoman said that Tehran is holding talks with the E3 on its nuclear program, but no negotiations aimed at reaching a new agreement are currently underway.
