One of Iran’s most powerful figures has said that the U.S. campaign of maximum economic pressure will fail—another indication that Iran’s hard-line leadership is unwilling to compromise despite the country’s deepening economic crisis.
“The world has understood that [U.S. President Donald] Trump is making a lot of noise and that this is nothing more than empty rhetoric,” said Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in an interview yesterday.
Rezaei’s comments are another indication of the growing influence of hard-line forces in Tehran and their increasing willingness to adopt a more offensive posture.
“We will see changes in the way the war is conducted, in diplomacy, and in political and social matters, and new capabilities will be brought into use,” he added.
Rezaei, who serves as an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran would not submit to U.S. pressure, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until Washington fulfills its commitments.
Shipping data suggests that more crude oil is now leaving the Gulf through a southern route near the coast of Oman, potentially weakening the leverage Iran has exercised in recent months.
Rezaei was a senior commander during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s—a formative period in the establishment of the Islamic Republic. He was appointed the country’s new security chief this month, in what was viewed as a shift toward a more aggressive approach compared with the policies pursued under the late Supreme Leader.
In his comments, his most significant since taking on his new position, Rezaei also claimed that the U.S. attack on Iran has encouraged countries to seek protection by acquiring nuclear weapons.
“Trump’s foolishness in attacking Iran has increased people’s desire around the world to acquire nuclear weapons, particularly after they saw that membership in the [International Atomic Energy Agency] and the [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] did nothing to prevent an American attack.”
