IRGC official says Iran’s military power has grown since war began

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday that countries in the region, including Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, were paying the price for Iran’s “inflated regional ambitions.”

He said no country’s regional role should come at the expense of shared security, stability and prosperity.

“A review is required and inevitable on clear grounds: respect for sovereignty, good neighborliness, and non-interference in the affairs of others,” he wrote in a post on X.

A senior official at Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Tuesday that the United States was seeking the Islamic Republic’s “full surrender.”

Mohammad Jafar Asadi, the headquarters’ deputy inspector, said there would be war if surrender was not an option.

“When there is no surrender, war lies ahead, and we have not yet revealed all our winning cards,” he said.

Iran was still reviewing the final text of a possible memorandum of understanding with the United States and has not yet sent a response, semi-official Mehr News reported on Tuesday, citing an informed source.

“America’s record of breaking commitments and historical mistrust have led Iran to take a very strict approach to the issue,” said the source, described as close to Iran’s negotiating team.

The source also said Iran was seeking “real benefit” based on past experience.

Outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea said Israel should remain committed to toppling Iran’s ruling system.

Speaking at a retirement ceremony late Monday, Barnea said the Islamic Republic was at its weakest after the recent war and that Israel should “complete the job.”

“I believed, and I still believe, that a change in the reality in Iran by virtue of toppling the regime is a possible and achievable goal,” Barnea said.

He said such a goal would require “persistence, a cool head, and commitment to the mission.”

“This mission must remain as our top priority,” he added.

A member of Iran parliament’s presiding board warned on Tuesday against taking disputes among officials into the public sphere, saying it could harm unity.

“All political groups, elites and those with public platforms must align their positions and conduct with the Supreme Leader’s guidance,” Ahmad Naderi said.

The lawmaker said that during the “silence of the military scene,” preserving unity and avoiding division were conditions for maintaining power.

“The battlefield is not only the military arena; diplomacy is another domain of the same battlefield,” he added.