Trump wants to bend world to his will, Khamenei advisor says
A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump seeks to force the world to carry out his bidding but that Iran hopes a Gaza truce will hold.
A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump seeks to force the world to carry out his bidding but that Iran hopes a Gaza truce will hold.
“Trump is operating in a new paradigm and wants to unilaterally impose his power on the world,” Kamal Kharrazi said in an interview with Khamenei official website, adding Israel acts under green light of the United States.
Kharrazi is veteran theocrat Khamenei's top foreign policy advisors and heads the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations. Members of the body are handpicked by Khamenei and its reports and advisories have often presaged major policy shifts by the ruling system.
His remarks carried on the official website of Iran's top decision-maker appear to represent one of the closest approximation of the Supreme Leader's view on the recent Gaza truce and Trump's role since it was clinched over the weekend.
“While we must not shy away from negotiations and should remain at the table, we must also ensure that nothing is imposed on us, and if they try, we must stand firm,” he added.
'Missile are no up for negotiations'
“The issue of missiles and the issue of resistance are not issues that Iran wants to negotiate on,” Kharrazi added.
Members of the body he leads are by handpicked by Khamenei and its reports and advisories have often presaged major policy shifts by the ruling system.
A senior Iranian lawmaker said last week that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has lifted all limits on the range of Iran’s missiles, previously capped at 2,200 kilometers (about 1,367 miles), signaling a potential major shift in Tehran’s defense posture following the punishing June war.
The stance was echoed by other Iranian officials, who emphasized that there would be no negotiations over the missile program’s range.
“Americans will take the wish of reducing Iran’s missile range to below 500 kilometers to the grave,” Armed Forces Judiciary chief Ahmadreza Pourkhaghan said during a meeting with Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force commanders, according to state media on October 7.
Kharrazi also warned that Israel seeks to dominate beyond its borders and that Iran must always be prepared.
“We must be vigilant against Israel’s future plans for the region and even the world. Though they are a small minority, they seek to dominate the region and the world by relying on great powers; hence, we must prepare for resistance starting today,” Kharrazi said.
Nezamoddin Mousavi, former head of the IRGC's Fars News agency, told another Guards-linked outlet Tasnim News that the military organization was never satisfied with the deal, and that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei never trusted the United States but insisted on supporting Iran’s negotiators.
"The Leader had a clear framework regarding the negotiations," Mousavi said. "He was not hopeful about them and viewed the United States as untrustworthy. But at the same time, he believed the negotiators should be treated with respect."
"The IRGC shared this view, and I understood that we should maintain respect for (foreign minister) Zarif and ensure a unified voice was heard from us, so it wouldn’t appear that there were two centers of authority in the country.” he added.
The remarks give rare insight into the policy outlook of the sprawling military group that is central to Tehran's domestic security and military stance abroad.
They appear to expose new details on the decision-making behind the doomed 2015 international nuclear deal that has become especially irksome to Iran's leadership after a provision paved the way for UN sanctions to be reimposed last month.
Hardliners in Iran have long criticized former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for accepting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s (JCPOA) snapback mechanism, viewing it as a concession that ultimately enabled the reimposition of sanctions on September 28.
The snapback mechanism allows any participant including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran in the event of alleged violations, without the possibility of a veto.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday he was surprised by Iran’s agreement to the snapback condition, calling it a “legal trap.”
“To be honest, we were surprised. But if our Iranian partners accepted this formulation—which, frankly, was a legal trap—we had no grounds to object,” Lavrov said.
‘With the Supreme Leader'
Mousavi, who as head of Revolutionary Guards-linked Fars News agency attended government and IRGC meetings on the Iran deal, said the Guards never promised to restrict their activities beyond the deal’s commitments.
He added that the Iranian government at the time was unhappy with the Guards’ missile tests and military exercises, causing internal disputes.
“We must respect the ruling bodies, and the IRGC is part of the establishment. The IRGC does not follow an expert’s command; it aligns with the Supreme Leader,” Mousavi said.
“If officials sign agreements beyond Iran’s commitments, the IRGC won’t accept them, but this does not imply belief in dual governance. After Americans failed to uphold their commitments, these revolutionary bodies demanded accountability.”
“Our clear and fundamental criticisms of the JCPOA are evident and have been published in media like Fars News Agency and Tasnim. Other sessions were held for finalization - not necessarily involving Mr. Zarif or government officials - and I saw no one convinced by the process or willing to justify it,” Mousavi added.
The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 under the first Trump administration. In response, Iran gradually reduced its compliance with the JCPOA and began enriching uranium at higher levels in 2019.
In June, Israel launched a surprise military offensive targeting Iran’s military and nuclear facilities, including assassinations of top officials. Iran retaliated with waves of drone and ballistic missile strikes.
The United States entered the conflict on June 22 with strikes on key nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, but brokered a ceasefire between Iran and Israel after 12 days of fighting on June 24.
Following the attacks, Iran halted cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the diplomatic impasse over Iran's nuclear activities continues.
The book, titled “Israel Annihilation Plan: The Islamic Republic's Strategy for the Destruction of the Zionist Regime,” was presented at an event in Iran's holy city of Qom.
The presentation suggested that despite a Gaza ceasefire which could tamp down region-wide conflicts over the past two years, Tehran was far from retiring its hostility and harsh rhetoric toward its regional arch-enemy.
Alireza Panahian, a cleric close to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, praised the authors during the unveiling ceremony, calling the book a valuable step in elaborating on the views of Khamenei and his predecessor Ruhollah Khomeini.
'Khamenei a hero'
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Khomeini, Iran has made opposition to Israel a core feature of its state ideology.
Under its founding leader, Israel was denounced as a “Zionist regime” lacking legitimacy, and it was cast as a symbol of Western imperialism in the Muslim world that must be annihilated.
Over time, this rhetoric has been echoed and expanded by his successor Khamenei, who has repeatedly called Israel a “cancerous tumor” and forecast its eventual demise.
In the ceremony held at Qom's Shrine of Hazrat Fatima Masoumeh, Panahian said “in the aftermath of the 12-day war (with Israel in June), the Supreme Leader’s name is recognized worldwide as that of a hero who stood up against the global order of domination."
Israel launched a surprise military offensive in June, striking Iran’s military and nuclear facilities as well as targeting top officials. Iran retaliated with salvos of drones and ballistic missiles.
'Israel's Irreparable defeat'
Author Ali-Asghar Mohammadi-Rad told attendees the book delved into "the theoretical and strategic foundations of Iran's plan to end the life of this regime, as well as an analysis of Israel's irreparable defeats in the recent battle."
"In the final chapter of the book, the connection between the recent 12-day war and the Islamic Republic of Iran's grand strategy of collapsing the Zionist regime is explained, and it is shown that this battle is part of the process of realizing that same strategic plan," he added, according to Tasnim news agency.
The book's back-cover blurb praises the October 7, 2023, attack by Tehran-backed Hamas militants as "a wake-up call for Iran and the entire world."
"The global public—poisoned by the stench of lies and worldliness spread by their rulers—needed to hear the cry of Palestine’s oppression, and the fabricated oppression of (Jewish people in) the Holocaust should sound for them as a bell of disgrace and a cry for freedom," it said.
