Iran prepared for larger fight and views US deal as delay tactic, report says

Iran’s hard-line leaders treated a mid-June memorandum of understanding with the United States as little more than a pause that would let Washington and ‘Israel’ ease pressure on the global economy while preparing a larger assault, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing Iranian and Arab officials.

Instead of trusting the diplomatic track, Tehran used the roughly two-month window to reorganize its forces, accelerate weapons production, and ready itself for a broader fight.

The agreement, signed under President Donald Trump, was intended to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin winding down hostilities.

Iranian officials, however, saw it differently.

“In their view the pact was likely just an attempt by the U.S. and Israel to take pressure off the global economy and buy time for a bigger attack down the road,” the Journal reported.

Hard-liners in Tehran therefore moved quickly to strengthen the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ control over the regular army, install veterans of the Iran-Iraq war and past internal crackdowns in key posts, expand domestic counterintelligence, and ramp up missile and drone production.

Arab intelligence services have detected communications between Iran and its militia allies in Yemen, Iraq, and elsewhere that point to a strategic shift aimed at widening the war and raising costs for the United States.

Officials familiar with the findings say Iran has been discussing offensive operations on enemy territory—moves that have alarmed smaller Gulf states such as Kuwait.

The Revolutionary Guard has also sent advisers to proxies in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon to coordinate potential escalations.

Revolutionary Guard spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi captured the regime’s approach in July: “We took full advantage of the ceasefire period. We enhanced our capabilities, accelerated our missile production rate and improved missile accuracy.”

Iranian forces have already tightened their grip on the Strait of Hormuz through ship attacks and extended operations into the Red Sea, complicating Saudi efforts to bypass the Persian Gulf chokehold.

A Tehran-based defense analyst close to the government, Mohammad Hassan Sangtarash, told the Journal that many in Iran believe the main confrontation still lies ahead.

“There is also a widespread view in Iran that the main war has not yet begun,” he said.

“What we have seen so far is increasingly interpreted through the lens of ‘salami-slicing’ tactics—limited, incremental escalation designed to weaken capabilities before a larger confrontation.”

Among the options reportedly under consideration are pre-emptive strikes, sabotage of undersea internet cables in the Persian Gulf, efforts to stir unrest among Shiite communities in Kuwait and Bahrain, and even possible ground operations in Kuwait.

Kuwaiti forces previously foiled one such attempt in May when they detained Revolutionary Guard members who had arrived by fishing boat.

‘Israeli’ officials have expressed concern at the speed of Iran’s recovery and rebuilding of missile infrastructure despite earlier airstrikes, according to earlier reports by Hebrew media.