Iran prepared for war, but won’t start it: IRGC chief

“We have no worries. We are not at all worried about war. We will not be the ones to start a war, but we are prepared for any war. The thirst for jihad to defend our sanctity, identity, and existence is a reality within our armed forces and our people,” said Hossein Salami, IRGC commander-in-chief, according to Iran’s state-owned IRNA news agency. 

“We are prepared for both scenarios: the enemy's psychological operations or military action, but we will not take a single step back in the face of the enemy,” Salami added. 

Trump made the threat on Sunday. “If they don’t make a deal there will be bombing, and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” he told NBC News.  

An army commander also said they are prepared. “Today, our level of readiness is such that, unlike the armed forces of neighboring countries, we are capable of establishing lasting security within our own borders,” Commander of the Army Ground Forces Kioumars Heydari said on Saturday.

Trump is pressuring Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear deal. He made an overture in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last month, signaling openness to nuclear negotiations, but also threatened military action if Iran refuses to cooperate.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran calls for an equal stance - not to threaten Iran on the one hand and to negotiate. If you want to negotiate, what is the threat for? America today is, not only Iran, but humiliates the world, and this behavior contradicts the call for negotiation,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday, IRNA reported. 

On Monday, a top aide to Khamenei, Ali Larijani, warned that his country will have “no choice” but to develop nuclear weapons if it comes under “any attack” by the United States or Israel.

Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions. The deal began unraveling in 2018 when Trump, during his first term, unilaterally withdrew the US from the accord and reimposed biting sanctions on Iran. Tehran waited a year and then gradually ramped up its nuclear activities.

After returning to office, Trump in early February restored his maximum pressure policy on Tehran, arguing that it is “too close” to a nuclear weapon.