Iran’s defense minister said on Wednesday that the country has developed a new generation of missiles with greater capabilities than those used in the recent 12-day conflict with Israel, and would deploy them in the event of further hostilities.
“The missiles we used in the 12-day war were built several years ago. Today we possess missiles with far better capabilities, and if the Zionist enemy embarks on another adventure, we will certainly use them,” Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh told reporters in Tehran, according to state media.
He said the confrontation was not only with Israel but with “all the logistical, intelligence and support capabilities of the United States” behind it. Despite this, he said, Iranian forces relied entirely on domestically produced systems.
“The world saw that the missiles we used struck their targets and inflicted heavy losses on the Zionist enemy,” Nasirzadeh said. He added that while Israeli media censored footage of strikes, “the information gradually emerged, showing the strength of Iran’s armed forces.”
Nasirzadeh said Israel’s defense systems – including the US-made THAAD and Patriot batteries, the Iron Dome and Arrow – had been unable to stop most of the projectiles.
“In the early days, about 40% of our missiles were intercepted, but by the end of the war, 90% were striking their targets,” he said. “This showed that our experience was growing while the defensive power of the other side was decreasing.”
Earlier in August, Israel’s military chief said the army is prepared to launch more strikes on Iran if necessary, after what he described as a successful preemptive war in June that halted an emerging existential threat to Israel.
Israel launched a surprise military campaign on June 13 targeting military and nuclear sites, assassinating senior Iranian commanders, and killing hundreds of civilians.
During the 12-day conflict, Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and at least 11 senior nuclear scientists.
According to an Iranian government spokesperson, 1,062 Iranians were killed, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians.
Iran retaliated with missile strikes that killed 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier.
Israel's military says that the interception rate for missiles and drones during the 12-day war was about 90%.
In a lengthy analysis, Tasnim News Agency said proposals by reformists amounted to “a Gorbachev moment” in which politicians, under the influence of foreign narratives, accept solutions that weaken their own national interests.
“The ‘Gorbachev moment’ refers to a situation in which a leader, fearing crisis, adopts the enemy’s prescription for survival. Out of fear of death, he commits political suicide,” wrote Jafar Hassankhani, from Tasnim’s Strategic Studies Center.
Tasnim said recent reformist statements – including open letters, an essay by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Foreign Policy, and demands by the Reform Front coalition to suspend uranium enrichment and free political prisoners – reflected a “coordinated program” that risked undermining Iran’s resilience.
“Trusting the enemy’s smiles and imagining that the solution to all of the nation’s problems lies in the hands of foreign powers is precisely what led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union,” the agency argued.
“The Supreme Leader of Iran has repeatedly stressed that diplomatic engagement and negotiations must never be interpreted as trust in the enemy. The historical experience of Gorbachev showed that trusting the enemy’s smile is nothing but an illusion, and even gestures such as the West’s open arms and friendly smiles can be part of a deception project. One of Gorbachev’s weaknesses in this regard was his tendency to seek approval,” read the article.
A separate Tasnim article on Monday accused reformist groups of “passing the ball to the enemy” by issuing a statement that, it said, paralleled Western criticism of Iran.
That piece, titled "Reformist old children helping Israel,” argued that a new Reform Front declaration calling for reconciliation and sanctions relief was reminiscent of the Freedom Movement’s 1980s calls to halt the war with Iraq after Iran recaptured Khorramshahr.
"At critical moments, both groups have tended to resort to internal blame-casting and one-sided proposals instead of supporting national interests and territorial integrity — effectively handing the other side the ammunition to justify aggression against Iran,” read the article.
Moderate and reformist figures, including Zarif, former president Hassan Rouhani and Green Movement leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have in recent weeks pressed for what they call a “paradigm shift” in Iran’s governance.
The Reform Front on Sunday called for a voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, broader engagement with the West, and domestic reforms including the release of political prisoners. “Iran’s social fabric was deeply wounded, with public life overshadowed by despair and anxiety,” the group said.
Rouhani argued last week that “there is no way to save the country except for all of us to become servants of the people — to recognize that sovereignty belongs to the people.”
Conservative outlets close to Khamenei have condemned the proposals as dangerous and aligned with Western agendas.
Kayhan newspaper called them “capitulation” to foreign powers, while the IRGC-linked Fars News Agency described the reformist roadmap as a “charter of submission.”
“The unfinished plan of Israel and the United States to eliminate the Islamic system continues with the assistance of those claiming to be reformists,” Kayhan wrote last week.
“In my meeting with the prime minister of Armenia, I emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran firmly believes in preserving Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintaining warm, continuing relations between our two countries,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.
“Our concerns regarding the presence of third-party forces near our shared borders must be fully addressed.”
At a joint press conference with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Pezeshkian expanded on those remarks. “Outsourcing the resolution of Caucasus issues to extra-regional forces will only complicate the situation in the region,” he said.
Pezeshkian also stressed that “Iran supports the peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia” and added that “both the government and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic believe relations with Armenia should be expanded in all areas.”
The remarks come after a US-brokered peace deal last week between Armenia and Azerbaijan granted Washington leasing rights to develop the Zangezur transit corridor, now renamed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
The deal allows a US company to build and manage the route connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan, a project Tehran has repeatedly described as a geopolitical risk.
State media said Iran and Armenia signed several cooperation memoranda on diplomacy, tourism, mining, health, infrastructure and environmental issues during Pezeshkian’s trip. The two leaders also attended an official welcoming ceremony in Yerevan earlier in the day.
Customs and transport cooperation
Additionally, Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development announced an agreement with Armenia to expand transport infrastructure and revise customs charges on vehicles entering Iran.
Road Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, who accompanied Pezeshkian, said there was an “imbalance of about $330” in vehicle fees charged by the two countries, and that Yerevan had agreed to set up a joint working group to review the matter.
She also said that “new routes must not come at the expense of geopolitical changes.”
The ministry said Armenia would soon tender contracts for the completion of the North-South transport corridor linking Russia, Iran and India via the Caucasus.
Iran’s red lines
Iran’s foreign ministry has repeatedly expressed its opposition to a foreign presence in the South Caucasus.
Also on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, "Armenia will never allow its territory to be used as a threat against Iran,” adding that Yerevan had assured Tehran it is aware of Iran’s red lines regarding the Zangezur corridor.
Araghchi said last week, “Armenian officials have told us they have respected and paid attention to all of Iran’s red lines in this matter,” he said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Baghaei said on Monday, “We have been very clear that we are sensitive to the presence of extra-regional actors."
“For us, the unblocking of routes must not harm internationally recognized borders or contradict Armenia’s national sovereignty,” Baghaei said.