Trump is a peacemaker but will not allow a nuclear Iran, Rubio says

The drills, led by the Iranian Army, will span an area from the Makran, in southeastern Iranian coast, to the northern Indian Ocean, covering strategic waters up to the 10-degree latitude.

The Makran coast, which lies along Iran’s border with Pakistan on the Arabian Sea, is a key military and economic zone, home to the country's growing naval infrastructure.

Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of the exercise, warned that any attack on Iranian interests would not go unanswered. He said, “Any enemy that thinks it can harm our interests on land, in the air, or at sea will certainly suffer great damage.”

He added that the Zolfaghar 1403 exercise will demonstrate Iran’s latest military capabilities, showcasing the strength of ground forces, air defense, strategic naval forces, and the Joint Air Defense Headquarters.

Sayyari’s remarks come amid reports that Israel is considering launching an attack on Iranian nuclear sites as early as the first half of this year.

According to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, US intelligence findings from last month indicate that Israel views Iran as vulnerable following the October 26 Israeli air strike, which reportedly knocked out large portions of Iran’s air defenses. The reports also suggest that Israel perceives increased US willingness to support military action, particularly with President Donald Trump back in the White House.

During a recent visit to Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli strikes had "crippled Iran's air defenses."

While Zolfaghar 1403 is an Army-led exercise, Iran has also recently conducted joint drills between the Iranian Army and the IRGC, focusing on defending key nuclear sites such as Natanz and Fordow.

The exercises, which are set to continue until mid-March, come after Iran unveiled the Zagros, its first signals intelligence (SIGINT) vessel for electronic surveillance. Additionally, Iran has expanded its drone fleet, receiving 1,000 new drones to bolster its capabilities.

As Iran ramps up its military posture, US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are closely coordinating on regional security.

On Wednesday, CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla hosted IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi at headquarters in Tampa, Florida, where they discussed Iran’s growing influence along with the ceasefire in Gaza, hostilities in Lebanon, and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. The CENTCOM statement, published on Thursday, reaffirmed the deep US-Israel military partnership as both countries assess Tehran’s actions in the region.

Last month, 110,000 paramilitary Basij forces took part in a large-scale IRGC drill aimed at preparing for potential security threats in Tehran.

With Iran ramping up military activities across multiple fronts, the region remains on high alert as the country signals its readiness to counter any external threats. Iranian military commanders have been making frequent statements about their military capabilities, and recently have renewed direct threats against Israel.

“Operation True Promise 3 will be carried out at the right time, with precision, and on a scale sufficient to destroy Israel and raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground,” General Ebrahim Jabbari said.

In 2024, Iran launched two large-scale missile and drone attacks against Israel, but with limited success.

Israeli air defenses, combined with intervention from the US and other allies, intercepted most of the projectiles, preventing significant damage.

The general, who is an adviser to IRGC chief commander Hossein Salami, was speaking on Thursday to paramilitary forces during ongoing drills, dubbed “The Great Exercise of Prophet Mohammad's Power.”

Jabbari claimed that “the United States can do nothing against Yemen.” He added that the resistance fronts in Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine are at the peak of readiness, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also ordered to increase the range of missiles.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on X that it took the threat seriously and was prepared to defend itself.

“If the Jewish people have learned anything from history, it is this: if your enemy says his goal is to annihilate you—believe him,” Sa’ar said, citing Iran International’s original article on Jabbari’s threat.

“We are ready."

Tehran faced significant setbacks in the region in 2024, including Israeli operations that severely weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In October, an Israeli airstrike reportedly delivered a decisive blow to Iran’s Russian-supplied air defense system.

Since Donald Trump took office in the United States, Tehran has grown increasingly insecure, issuing repeated warnings against further attacks. It has also conducted continuous military drills since early January.

General Jabbari at length praised IRGC Quds Force former commander Qasem Soleimani and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed by a targeted Israeli air raid last September.

They were “teachers who trained a whole generation of younger commanders,” he said.

Praising what he called their devotion to Khamenei, he said, “These martyrs believed their success lay in absolute obedience to the Supreme Leader.”

"I'm going to tell (Trump), basically, 'You can't be weak in the face of President Putin...How can you then be credible in the face of China?" Macron said during a social media Q&A on Thursday.

"And you, who wants Iran not to have nuclear weapons, you can't be weak with someone (Putin) who is helping (Iran) acquire it," he added.

Macron's scheduled visit to Washington was confirmed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"Next Monday, the president will host France's President Emmanuel Macron, and on Thursday the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit the White House as well," she told reporters.

Last month, Macron warned that Iran's nuclear program is nearing the point of no return, stressing the need for Paris to engage in strategic discussions with Trump's administration about Tehran.

Macron also mentioned Iran's ballistic missiles and support for Russia, labeling them threats to Europe.

“(Iran's) ballistic missile program threatens European soil and our interests. Iran is already involved in Russia's war against Ukraine through clear and fully identified military support,” he said.

President Trump's recent remarks on the war in Ukraine and the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky has troubled European powers who seek US support in dealing with what they see as a growing Russian threat.

Speaking in Tehran on Thursday during a meeting with Iran’s armed forces chief Mohammad Bagheri, he called Iran the "home of the resistance."

"The victories of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon were achieved with the support and effective role of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.

He also described Iran’s direct involvement in the True Promise 1 and 2 operations—missile and drone attacks launched by Iran on Israel—as a "strategic and influential shift in the spirit of the region’s nations."

"We want to make ourselves available, providing technically sound alternatives to eliminate the possibility that Iran develops a nuclear weapon, to prevent Iran, or to help Iran prove that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon," Rafael Grossi told reporters at Japan’s National Press Club.

"We hear the government say that. But as somebody said, we trust everybody, but we need to verify. So until we can have a very, very comprehensive watertight system of verification, we will not be satisfied."

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon but the United States assesses that it seeks such a capability and Israel sees its arch-foe wanting a bomb to destroy it.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued a statement shortly after condemning Grossi's remarks as biased and inaccurate, saying "the burden of proof is on the claimant.”

"The IAEA director general, as a senior official of an important international organization, is expected to speak and act impartially, professionally, and without political bias," it said.

"At a time when the United States and certain Western countries are attempting to misuse the IAEA to exert unjust pressure on Iran, such politically motivated and unprofessional statements could serve as a pretext for their illegitimate ambitions.”

Time may be running out for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff.

The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported last week citing US intelligence findings from last month that Israel saw an opening for an attack on Iranian nuclear sites as early as the first half of this year.

Iran is involved in ongoing negotiations with the so-called E3 European countries - Britain, France and Germany - who were signatories of a now largely defunct 2015 international deal over Iran's nuclear program.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran could fend off an attack by its enemies, after rejecting an overture from Trump for a deal over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but Israel insists aims at building a bomb.

JCPOA

Despite calling his recent visit to Iran constructive, Grossi said, “Iran is not still cooperating as we would like them to do.”

Grossi described a 2015 nuclear agreement, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as outdated and in need of a replacement albeit with a similar philosophy of Western economic incentives exchanged for Iranian curbing of enrichment.

"I discussed this with the foreign minister of Iran, Mr. (Abbas) Araghchi, maybe what you can have is the same philosophy of JCPOA, which is tit for tat. Which is, I restrain my activities in exchange for incentives - financial, economical or otherwise. But beyond this, I think it is no longer applicable," Grossi said.

"The JCPOA is an empty shell," Grossi added. "The JCPOA talked about one type of centrifuges but they have much more. They are enriching at 60% or almost weapon level, so it is a completely different nuclear program.”

The 2015 nuclear deal, signed by the Islamic Republic and six world powers, was aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief. However, during his first term, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, reinstating sanctions.

In response, Tehran reduced its commitments, and in 2020, its parliament passed a law restricting IAEA inspections beyond the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.