A senior adviser to the Iranian military said that Tehran was prepared to continue the war through 2028 to deter any nation from attacking Iran again. 

One way is to prolong this war until we get to the next term of the presidency and cause attrition, so that if anyone else wants to attack Iran, they will know there is a cost,” Mohammad Reza Naghdi, a senior adviser to the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said Tuesday. “We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security.”

In June, Washington and Tehran signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU created a ceasefire and was intended to provide a framework for a lasting peace agreement between the US and Iran. However, Washington failed to comply with the MOU, and Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iranian officials now say that they are not engaged in active negotiations with the US. Tehran says Washington must come into compliance with the MOU before diplomacy resumes or the Strait reopens. 

Iran has enforced the closure of the Strait by attacking vessels attempting to run Tehran’s blockade. Naghdi defended attacks on civilian ships. “When we are at war, vessels need to pass through a region we can control,” he said. “When they leave an area that we control, it could be that they’re transporting supplies for the enemy.”

President Donald Trump has argued that Iran is suffering economically and Tehran is nearing its breaking point.