Iran Adviser Suggests Prolonging Conflict to Outlast Trump

A senior adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has outlined a potential strategy of deliberately prolonging the conflict with the United States until President Donald Trump leaves office, aiming to impose costs and establish long-term deterrence. Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, in a rare interview published on August 12, stated that one option for Tehran is to extend the war to ensure any future administration thinks twice before attacking Iran again.

Naqdi, a longtime senior IRGC figure who now serves as a senior adviser to its commander, told PBS NewsHour that the conflict has provided Iran with valuable experience in confronting the U.S. military. He claimed the American military has proven weaker than perceived and that Iran is manufacturing more missiles each day than it launches, with production distributed across multiple locations. "The longer this war lasts, the more experience we gain," Naqdi said, adding that Iran had never previously had such an opportunity to learn how to fight the United States directly.

He issued a warning about Iran's capacity to sustain the fight, stating that even if the country exhausted its missile stockpile, it...