Arash Aramesh

At a press conference held June 29, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki dismissed the possibility of a military attack against Iran and said, “As regards a military attack against Iran, we do not see any chance for the US, let alone its illegitimate child, the Zionist regime [Israel], which is stuck in internal and regional crises.”

According to Fars news, a semi-official news agency with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mottaki said that the military option has always been on the agenda of Iran’s enemies but the Islamic Republic is not worried about any such threats.

While Iran’s chief diplomat played down Iran’s fears of a military strike, the Iranian government is gearing up for a potential showdown with the West. Recent back-to-back military exercises in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s armed forces are interpreted as Iran preparing for a military standoff.

An internal bulletin of the IRGC recently uncovered by Rooz Online, a news website funded by the Dutch government and close to the opposition, reveals the level of fear among Iran’s senior leadership of an attack by the United States or Israel.

According to this bulletin, the IRGC believes that the Persian Gulf is becoming a “warzone” with American, British, and French military presence. The IRGC is especially concerned about the recent deployment of USS Harry Truman to the Persian Gulf to either join or replace USS Dwight Eisenhower. In either case, the IRGC finds this as a threat and a move by the US to increase its military presence in the Persian Gulf in case of a military showdown with Iran.

In the past two years and with Western pressure increasing on Iran over its nuclear program, the Islamic Republic has beefed up its military presence in strategically important locations, such as the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has also set up a joint areal command structure in which the IRGC and the Iranian Air Force will monitor Iran’s skies for potential aerial intruders. This joint command is a direct response to threats of a potential American or Israeli attack.

Meanwhile, the government played down the US and Israel’s ability to strike and brags about Iran’s sophisticated and harsh retaliation in case of such attacks.