Iran’s naval forces are fully prepared to confront any threat across its islands, coasts, and territorial waters, the Revolutionary Guards chief said during a visit to an IRGC naval base, warning that any move by adversaries will be met with a firm response.
“There is full preparedness so that if any move comes from the enemy, it will receive a strong response,” Major General Mohammad Pakpour said during a visit to naval units stationed on Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Siri islands in the Persian Gulf.
He said the forces demonstrated high readiness and strong morale, adding that the same spirit that enabled Iranian forces to bring “the Zionist regime (Israel) and the United States to their knees” during the 12-day war in June remains in place.
Iran has long sought to highlight its military presence around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for global oil shipments, amid heightened tensions with Western powers over its nuclear program.
About a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments pass through the chokepoint, which was a major flashpoint during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
Last week, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said the country’s naval units were at an “extraordinary level of readiness” for any potential future conflict.
Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to close the strait as tensions with Israel and the United States flared in recent years.
In August, Iran staged its first major naval exercise since the June war with Israel. The two-day drill covered the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.
Tweet unavailable
Hossein Shahrabi, head of the Tehran-based knowledge-based company Omid Faza, told Tasnim news agency that preparations for the satellite were complete and that it would be launched aboard the same rocket that carried Iran’s Kosar and Hodhod satellites last year.
He said the new spacecraft combines Earth observation and telecommunications functions, integrating improved solar arrays and communication links to address problems that limited image transmission in earlier models.
“The issue linking attitude control to solar energy absorption has been resolved,” Shahrabi said. The satellite adds an S-band link, enabling full attitude control from the ground, he added.
The Do-Namay 1 is a modified version of the Kosar platform and marks Iran’s growing use of private-sector firms in its space program.
According to Shahrabi, image resolution has improved to about 3.5 meters, and its optical payloads now achieve near-ground-test performance levels.
The official said the satellite would be delivered to the launch operator within a month, with a target launch date in Azar, the ninth month of the Iranian calendar (November–December).
Iran loses two satellites
Shahrabi, referring to technical issues with the Kosarsatellite, said its attitude control and power absorption systems had become unintentionally interdependent.
“This prevented us from first stabilizing the satellite’s orientation and then delivering the necessary power according to the original design,” he explained.
“Although the satellite remains in orbit and we receive signals in some areas with sufficient sunlight, we ultimately failed to obtain any imagery from it.”
He added that communication with the Hodhod satellite was lost about two weeks before the 12-day war.
“I don’t want to directly link the satellite’s condition to that event,” he said, “but a series of incidents occurred, and unfortunately the satellite received an unauthorized command from outside the control system. After that, we completely lost contact with Hodhod.”
He added that Hodhod had been turning on and off repeatedly since the incident. “Unfortunately, we now have even less communication with Hodhod than with Kosar. I emphasize that I am not attributing this to the war -- since I am not certain -- but I mention it simply to inform those who want to know the latest status of the satellite.”
“We consider a technical malfunction more likely,” he added, “but there are two ambiguities -- first, the coincidence of this incident with the 12-day war, as it occurred roughly two weeks before; and second, the fact that we received a command from outside the guidance system prior to it.”
The announced launch comes as Iran accelerates plans to expand its space activities. The head of the Iranian Space Agency, Hassan Salarieh, said last month that Iran aims to launch four satellites by March 2026 and inaugurate a new spaceport in Chabahar, in the country’s southeast.
These include an updated Kosar Earth-observation satellite and prototype satellites from the planned Soleimani narrowband constellation, intended to support Internet of Things services.
Western governments have repeatedly expressed concern that Iran’s satellite launches could aid its ballistic missile program, citing overlapping technologies. Tehran says its space program is purely civilian and aimed at scientific and communication applications.
Senior Israeli officials were quoted by Hebrew media as calling Liberman’s post on X “bizarre and detached from reality.”
Defense officials cited by Channel 13 said that such comments could lead to a “miscalculation” in which Iran might assume Israel was preparing an assault and respond preemptively.
Sources cited by Ynet said Israel had chosen not to officially reply “so as not to bolster” Liberman’s remarks, adding there was “no substance to them.”
Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beytenu party and a former defense minister, wrote on X on Friday that “whoever thinks the conflict with Iran is over is misled and misleading,” saying that Tehran was restoring activity at its nuclear sites and “trying to surprise us.”
He urged Israelis to celebrate the Sukkot holiday “close to protected spaces,” adding, “This government cannot be trusted. Until we’ve fixed their damage, we have only ourselves and the IDF to rely on.”
In a new post on Saturday, he listed what he called “open-source intelligence,” showing Iran’s missile and nuclear activity since late July, including satellite images at Natanz, reports of missile tests, and new sanctions by the United States and Europe. “All these facts together must lead us to the conclusion that the Iranians are not seeking a Nobel Peace Prize, but revenge,” he wrote, adding that the next confrontation with Iran was “not a question of if, but when.”
The IDF Home Front Command said there were “no changes to its guidelines,” while defense officials accused Liberman of fearmongering.
Officials warn against political missteps
Defense sources told Hebrew outlets that intelligence agencies have not detected preparations for a new Iranian offensive or for Israel to launch one. They warned that inflammatory rhetoric from politicians could prompt Tehran to misread Israel’s posture.
Israeli assessments cited by Ynet indicate that Iran is attempting to rebuild its air defense systems destroyed in the June war and to restart limited ballistic missile production, reportedly seeking technical help from China, Russia, and possibly North Korea. However, the reports said there are no signs Iran has resumed uranium enrichment or nuclear weapons development, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has yet to decide on reactivating those programs.
Officials expressed concern that Iran’s suspension of cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors has left critical blind spots, including uncertainty over its stockpile of roughly 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. Intelligence officials view the chance of Iran producing a crude device or “dirty bomb” as remote.
Kayhan says confrontation 'very probable'
In Tehran, Kayhan—a newspaper supervised by Khamenei’s office—published a Saturday editorial asserting that the world stands “on the brink of a historic turning point.” The paper said a renewed confrontation between Iran and what it called “the American-Zionist front was very probable,” citing Liberman’s own words as proof that Israel was bracing for another war it might not win.
“It is not necessarily the case that this time the opponent will strike first,” Kayhan wrote, arguing that Iran’s unity and deterrence capabilities had prevented its defeat in the 12-day war in June. The editorial linked economic volatility in Iran to foreign hybrid warfare and urged authorities to reinforce “military strength, domestic cohesion, and resistance economics” as protection against renewed aggression.
While Israel’s defense establishment insists calm prevails, Kayhan portrayed the same moment as an approaching inflection point—one in which, it warned, “the future will be shaped by vigilance and strength, or lost to weakness.”