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A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Tehran should consider joining a new Saudi-Pakistani defense pact while vowing to strengthen its offensive military power after the recent 12-day war with Israel and the United States.
Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi told state television on Saturday night that the agreement between Riyadh and Islamabad was positive and proposed Iran, Iraq and others also take part.
“Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iraq can reach a collective defense pact,” he said, while acknowledging that US influence over Riyadh and Islamabad may limit such moves.
Earlier in September, Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact in Riyadh, bolstering their decades-old security partnership a week after Israel’s strikes on Qatar. Riyadh insisted the deal was not a response to specific events but the culmination of years of talks.
The agreement, described by a senior Saudi official as a “comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means,” says that aggression against either country will be considered an attack on both.
Pakistan, the only Muslim-majority nuclear power, has long stationed troops in the kingdom and provides technical and operational support to its military.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed the pact alongside Pakistan’s powerful army chief Asim Munir.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Safavi said Iran launched more than 500 long-range missiles during the June conflict but admitted weaknesses in air defense and intelligence.
“Foreign assessments show 60% believe Iran won, because Israel did not achieve its objectives,” he said, without mentioning any source.
He added Iran was rebuilding damaged radar and missile systems and would “certainly increase” its offensive capabilities.
“The enemy could not tolerate us striking Haifa’s refinery and power plants,” Safavi said, adding that Iranian missiles destroyed advanced Israeli sites and pilots.
Safavi warned the conflict was “not fully over” and called for strengthening diplomacy, media, and military readiness. “We must continue the path of power-building. Offensive power is not only in air and space but in all domains,” he said.
The main enemy plan after the snapback is a cognitive operation to create political, social and economic instability in Iran, lawmaker Abolfazl Abutorabi said on Sunday.
“The main enemy plan after the snapback is a cognitive operation aimed at creating political, social and economic instability in Iran,” Abutorabi said.
“Given the circumstances, Israel’s program in the coming weeks includes political polarization, a jump in exchange rates and the start of episodic unrest,” he added.
A representative in Iran's parliament urged preparing to inflict heavy damage on Israel should hostilities resume.
“The direct target of Israel is the Islamic Republic and, as the Leader said, we must be strong,” Ali-Asghar Nakhaei-Rad said on Sunday.
“Our commanders must learn from the 12-day defense so that if another clash occurs, we deal them heavy blows to break their back,” he added.
The minimum response to the European trio over the snapback sanctions is expelling their ambassadors, Iran parliament’s national security committee spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei said on Sunday.
“For years we have not been able to sell our oil normally, and the snapback is nothing new,” Rezaei added.
He called the sanctions’ impact negligible. “The Security Council measures add nothing new to previous sanctions,” he said.
“This is psychological warfare launched by the Americans, the Zionists, and some pro-Western elements inside the country.”
He attributed the rise in the dollar and other currencies not to sanctions but to “psychological atmosphere building.”
Iran’s membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has been useless, Supreme National Security Council representative Saeed Jalili said in a speech.
He recalled that in 2013, during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, Iran had 19,000 centrifuges and 10,000 kilograms of uranium enriched to 3% and 20%.
Jalili described the only benefit of the 2015 nuclear deal as “learning a lesson.”
He criticized Iranian officials for adhering to the treaty, calling NPT membership useless.
