According to reports, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said on the 18th that Iran's armed forces have drawn up response plans for any new "acts of adventurism."
Rezaei stated on social media that the frenzied rhetoric and repeated threats spread by U.S. and Israeli officials in recent days will not change the reality on the battlefield. In the face of any potential new "acts of adventurism," Iran's armed forces have prepared response plans whose destructive power will far exceed anything before. Iran's new combat plans will no longer follow rules familiar to the adversary.
In addition, according to a compilation by Huanqiu.com of reports from Iran's Mehr News Agency and other media on the 18th, Iran's new Defense Minister (Ahraqi) said that Iran has taken necessary measures to deal with any possible U.S. use of the "Mother of All Bombs" against Iran.
The minister also warned that if the U.S. drops one bomb, "they will have to see how many American soldiers end up being carried out of this region on stretchers."
Previously, multiple U.S. media outlets reported that the White House and the Pentagon had formulated plans under which the U.S. military might use the "Mother of All Bombs" to strike Iranian military targets. The "Mother of All Bombs" is a massive air-burst bomb developed by the U.S. during the Iraq War, designed to detonate before impact, and is currently one of the most powerful non-nuclear bombs in the U.S. arsenal. It was originally designed as a psychological warfare weapon, with the U.S. military hoping its enormous explosion would intimidate Iraqi forces into surrendering or abandoning the fight.
When asked on the 15th about reports that he was considering using the "Mother of All Bombs" against Iran, U.S. President Trump neither confirmed nor denied the reports, emphasizing only that the bomb is not a nuclear weapon but an extremely powerful conventional bomb. Trump also said the U.S. would not use nuclear weapons against Iran, "We don't need to do that."
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency citing the Islamic Republic News Agency on the 18th, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said the same day that Iran's previously proposed "Seven-Day Plan," namely the proposal to "reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days," remains valid.
Araghchi made the remarks in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, while attending the 52nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He said Iran's conditions for ceasing hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz are "very clear," and that Iran has already conveyed the "Seven-Day Plan" to the United States. The U.S. side has offered its comments on the plan, and Iran is currently evaluating the American response.
He stated that if the U.S. side can meet the conditions proposed by Iran, "the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened on the sixth day, and negotiations will resume on the seventh day." Iran is willing to resolve the issue through diplomatic means at any time, but this must be "based on dignity and honor."
