The strategic assessment comes as the official asserts that the current battlefield situation has fundamentally altered Tehran’s position in peace negotiations with the United States, presenting US President Donald Trump with a ‘test of trust’.
“This is the first time Iran has emerged victorious in wars, while in previous wars Iran has always been defeated,” Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN.
The remarks come at a sensitive time, with bilateral negotiations stalled and a fragile ceasefire barely maintaining peace in the region.
According to sources tracking the discussions, a final peace deal now rests on the Donald Trump administration releasing USD 24 billion in frozen Iranian funds.
Under the proposed roadmap, Tehran is reportedly seeking the release of USD 12 billion in blocked funds once an interim pact is signed, followed by another USD 12 billion in a subsequent second phase.
Rezaei maintained that unfreezing this capital would serve as a clear indication that Washington was ready to pursue an agreement. “The negotiations are at a deadlock and Trump must break this deadlock,” Rezaei told CNN, adding, “The ball is in Trump’s court. If he (Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump – this is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened,” he said. “This is our own money, not America’s money.”
Shifting his focus to the potential breakdown of the current truce, Rezaei warned that any renewed bombings would expand well beyond the immediate confines of the Persian Gulf.
“We will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far,” he said.
Elaborating on the scope of future hostilities, the military adviser stated that a prospective war could spread from the critical bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.
“The possibility of war is low,” he added, though he emphasised that if talks were to fail and the United States were to attack again, Rezaei said Iran was prepared.
“Then the world will understand Iran’s true capabilities, because our land power is many times greater than our missiles,” he asserted.
The senior adviser also used the opportunity to dismiss the possibility of a highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Mojtaba Khamenei after recent comments by the US president that he would be “honoured” to meet the Iranian leader.
“This will not happen, right now we are in the first stage of negotiations and Trump has brought the negotiations to a standstill. This will not happen,” Rezaei said.
Turning to maritime governance, Rezaei repeated Iran’s long-standing claim that it shares sovereignty over the strategic Strait of Hormuz alongside Oman, stating that the two nations should jointly manage the vital waterway.
He argued that Iran should not bear the costs of maintaining the route alone and suggested ships could be charged maintenance fees for safe passage.
The official also cast doubt on the future viability of any nuclear deal with Trump, citing Washington’s historical withdrawal from the 2015 agreement and what he described as an “ambiguous” approach to the ongoing negotiations.
