Iran backs end of 'genocidal' Gaza war in cautious blessing of Trump deal

"Iran was about one month, maybe two months, away from having a nuclear weapon. And if I allowed that to happen, this deal would not have been possible," Trump told Fox News in a phone interview on Wednesday evening.

"It's a very much different Iran. And frankly, we've had some very good conversations. And as you saw, they blessed the deal. They put out a few hours ago a statement that they agree with the deal, and they blessed the deal," he added, without elaborating. "That's a tremendous thing."

Tehran had not published any official reaction to the announcement by the United States, Hamas and Israel that the parties had agreed to the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a partial pullback of Israeli forces and the freeing of Palestinian political prisoners.

US planes and submarine-launched missiles attacked three key Iranian nuclear sites on June 22, capping off a surprise Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic which battered its arch-foe.

Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, called the attacks illegal and has vowed to resist what it calls Israeli aggression. Still, officials have long said they would support any peace deal agreed by Palestinians.

Iran has backed Palestinian militants and armed affiliates throughout the Middle East it calls a "Resistance Axis" opposed to Israel and the United States.

"I believe if they had a nuclear weapon, there would be a whole different even if we made the deal, it would have, literally, a very dark cloud over it because of what could potentially happen," Trump added.

"And by the way, I believe Iran is going to be actually a part of the whole peace situation," he added.

“Groups in the resistance front are today stronger and more active than two years ago against America and Israel,” Behnam Saeedi, secretary of parliament’s national security commission, told Didban Iran, referring to militias backed by Tehran in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Gaza.

Saeedi dismissed US President Donald Trump’s peace initiative as unreliable. “Any plan that takes sovereignty away from the Palestinian people is doomed to fail,” he said.

Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a ceasefire after two years of war in Gaza, with terms set out in a 20-point US proposal presented by Trump and backed by Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. The plan would see the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the enclave, and the entry of aid.

Israel’s government is meeting later Thursday to vote on the deal, which is widely expected to pass. If approved, a truce will go into immediate effect and the release of hostages is due to begin within days. Families of hostages in Israel and residents in Gaza have already staged celebrations at the news.

While regional leaders from Egypt to Qatar hailed the breakthrough, Iranian state officials and media have so far shown little reaction to the Gaza agreement.

Iran’s only public comment came from government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, who said Tuesday Tehran would support any lasting peace that benefits Palestinians. Trump said Iran had sent “a very strong signal” it wanted to see progress toward an agreement.

“The Islamic Republic has developed and will continue to develop its missile program to any extent it deems necessary,” said Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of parliament’s national security committee.

While Khamenei had previously capped missile range at 2,200 kilometers, he has now “removed any such limitation,” he asserted, adding that Tehran will accept “no limits on missile range,” which he described as its “most important element of military power.”

Hardline members of Iran's fractious parliament often make hawkish statements that do not ultimately reflect policy from the theocracy's highest echelons, but it is rare of MPs to specifically invoke Khamenei in their remarks.

Bakhshayesh’s assertion came a day after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of lying about Tehran’s ambitions to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles in order to deceive Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US podcaster Ben Shapiro that Iran was developing missiles with an 8,000-kilometer range, capable of hitting major American cities including New York, Boston, Washington, and Miami.

“Israel … finally managed to deceive the U.S. into attacking the Iranian people,” Araghchi wrote on X, referring to Israeli and American strikes on Iran in June.

“With the failure of that action, Israel is now trying to make an imaginary threat out of our defense capabilities.”

'Not on the table'

On Tuesday, another senior Iranian official also rejected the idea of limiting Iran’s missile program, saying Washington’s proposal to cap missile range was unacceptable.

“Americans will take the wish of reducing Iran’s missile range to below 500 kilometers to the grave,” Armed Forces Judiciary chief Ahmadreza Pourkhaghan said during a meeting with Revolutionary Guard aerospace commanders.

He added that Iran is prepared to negotiate over its nuclear program but “will not hold any talks” about missiles.

Tehran's security chief Ali Larijani confirmed last month that Washington had floated the idea to limit Iran's missiles' range.

“No honorable person would accept such a condition,” Larijani said in response.

Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij, said at an event in the holy city of Mashhad that the move reflects America’s intention to “ideologize its army” on a global scale, according to Iranian state media.

The group he leads, formally called the Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed, is part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a sprawling military body which oversees Tehran's support for armed affiliates in the Middle East.

"The renaming of the US Department of Defense to the Department of War shows that (Washington) has stationed its forces worldwide to threaten nations and seeks to ideologize his army. The future of nations will be shaped by war,” Soleimani said.

“The enemy has imposed not only military and media wars on Iran but also an economic war—our front-line fighters today are producers and merchants,” he added.

Problems at home

In September, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order rebranding the Department of Defense to the Department of War, its name for nearly 160 years before 1947.

The move aims, in the administration's framing, to refocus US military attention on deterring foes and winning wars but has not yet been ratified by Congress.

Iran is currently grappling with high inflation and rising prices amid the reimposition of UN sanctions last month, which the government claims have little effect on the economy or markets but have throttled the Iranian currency.

The IRGC is reeling from a punishing 12-day June war in which its top leadership was assassinated in Israeli attacks and its missile stocks were largely destroyed.

'US may collapse soon'

The Basij commander, whose force is under US sanctions, alleged that Iran is among the countries labeled as threats by the United States and Israel.

“America and the Zionists see five main threats: China, Russia, Venezuela, Bagram Air Base,and Iran—a historical irony,” Soleimani said.

In September, Trump also demanded that the Taliban return control of Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base to the United States, warning that “bad things are going to happen” should it not comply.

“If America fails to achieve its goals by 2025, its global power will collapse,” Soleimani added. “This echoes the words of Zionist lobbies, which shape the thinking of America and Trump.”

The Basij was sanctioned by the United States in 2011 for human rights violations and has been accused by human rights groups of torture, rape and repressing peaceful protests with deadly force.

Mojtaba Ghahremani said the suspects, from four different countries, were detained when Iranian forces intercepted the vessel east of Hormozgan province. The ship was carrying more than 2.3 million liters of diesel, he said, adding that the case has now been sent to court for trial.

The indictment follows the July 14 seizure, when Iranian border guards and naval units boarded the tanker near the port of Jask. State media later identified the vessel as the Phoenix, sailing under the Cook Islands flag. Authorities at the time said the ship was transporting smuggled fuel, with the cargo valued at roughly $840,000.

Iran has stepped up maritime enforcement in the region, citing large-scale fuel smuggling driven by price differences with neighboring countries. In recent months, the Revolutionary Guard and other security forces have reported multiple operations in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic waterway for global oil shipments.

In April, the IRGC Navy said it intercepted a vessel carrying about 100,000 liters of fuel and arrested six crew members. Around the same time, two other tankers alleged to be transporting more than 3 million liters of diesel were seized and taken to the port of Bushehr.