Unlike US, Iran Prepared for a Long War: Larijani

Monday, 02 March 2026 4:34 PM

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Larijani (File photo)

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Larijani, says Iran did not initiate the current war, but it remains fully prepared to sustain a long-term conflict, unlike the United States.

“Iran, unlike the United States, has prepared itself for a long war,” Larijani stated in a post on the social media platform X on Monday.

Echoing historical precedents, Larijani added, “As in the past 300 years, Iran did not start this war, our brave armed forces have not engaged in a single offensive operation, acting solely in self-defense."

The Security Council chief pledged that Iran would “fiercely defend itself and its six-thousand-year-old civilization regardless of the costs,” promising that the enemies would “regret their miscalculation.”

Iran’s top security official says Tehran will hold no negotiations with the United States after Washington and Tel Aviv waged war against the country.

The remarks follow a fresh round of aerial aggression launched by the US and Israel on Saturday, marking a new escalation just eight months after previous unprovoked attacks on the Islamic Republic.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was assassinated in the first salvo of the terrorist attacks, even as Tehran was engaged in diplomatic talks with Washington over its nuclear program.

Iran swiftly initiated retaliation, launching coordinated barrages of missiles and drones targeting Israeli-occupied territories and US military bases across the region.