Can Iran balance missile threats and diplomacy to avoid war with Trump?
Amid growing fears of possible US strikes, Tehran is advancing a dual-track strategy: showing off military preparedness while engaging in regional diplomacy to shift the calculus in its own favor.
TEHRAN — Iran's missile chief, Brig. Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, as well as senior Revolutionary Guards commander Alireza Sabahifard, paid a visit on Friday to the country's south-east Air Defense Zone in the Persian Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, according to the hard-line Tasnim News Agency.
The visit was aimed at "an operational assessment of Iran's combat and defense preparedness," the report said.
"Our air defense prowess is standing firmly like a mountain against threats and will deliver a decisive, crushing response to any act of aggression," Sabahifard declared after the inspection.
The visit followed mounting threats from the United States against Iran's nuclear program. President Donald Trump warned last week that Tehran has to choose between a fresh nuclear deal or a military attack "the likes of which they have never seen before."
