Iran Says Enemy Failed to Anticipate Expansion of War Across Region

By Staff, Agencies

Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari said the enemy failed to anticipate Iran’s ability to alter the course of the war and expand the battlefield across the entire region.

Speaking on Monday, Heidari said the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the region’s most important strategic issues, with the potential to significantly influence regional and global equations.

He said the Islamic Republic had used its strategic capabilities to exert a major impact on global economic equations, adding that Iran’s adversaries had relied on extensive scenarios and calculations before entering the confrontation.

According to Heidari, the enemy sought to create unrest, insecurity and instability inside Iran through hybrid warfare and affiliated elements operating within the country.

He said Iran’s adversaries had repeatedly miscalculated the capabilities, determination and potential of the Iranian people.

Heidari stressed that internal cohesion was a key factor behind Iran’s ability to withstand the confrontation.

He said the unity between the armed forces and the Iranian nation had strengthened the country and thwarted the enemy’s efforts to achieve its objectives.

Iran has recently announced a fundamental shift in its defense doctrine, warning that future responses to US aggression will be asymmetric and multi-layered.

The shift follows a series of US airstrikes targeting civilian areas and non-military infrastructure in several Iranian provinces, including Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Kerman.

One of the deadliest incidents occurred in Kouhestak village in Sirik County, Hormozgan Province, where a US missile struck a wedding celebration, killing and wounding more than 70 people, the vast majority of them women and children.