Iran May Prolong Conflict Until End of Trump Term, IRGC General Says

Iran is prepared to sustain an armed conflict with the United States through the remainder of Donald Trump’s presidential term, confident in its ability to outlast American resolve, according to a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Calculus of Attrition and Lasting Deterrence

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi laid out Tehran’s strategic calculations during an interview with PBS. The remarks surfaced amid public reporting highlighting strain on United States munitions stockpiles alongside declining morale among American service members deployed across the Middle East.

Pressed by the US broadcaster on whether Iranian commanders intended to drag the fight out until Trump vacates office, Naqdi made the objective explicit. Tehran seeks lasting deterrence, ensuring no adversary dares to mount a future attack.

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, Naqdi told PBS.

Retaliatory Strikes and Mounting Domestic Discontent

Hostilities erupted after Trump launched a 40-day bombing campaign against Iran in late February. Even after absorbing the loss of several senior officials, the government in Tehran maintained a tight grip on internal control. The regime retaliated by striking US military installations in the region while leveraging economic pressure against Washington’s regional allies and global markets.

The prolonged exchange has bred domestic unpopularity among American voters. That sentiment has generated acute political anxiety for Republican candidates ahead of the November midterm elections.

Contrasting Assessments of the Naval Blockade

The White House has oscillated between threatening further military escalation and insisting that Iran is broken to the point of capitulating to a favorable peace deal. On Wednesday, Trump claimed that a US naval blockade imposed on Iranian ports in April acted as a wall of steel, leaving Tehran entirely stripped of funds.

Naqdi painted a starkly different picture. He argued that the protracted fighting has gifted the Iranian military invaluable operational expertise.

The longer this war lasts, the more experience we gain, Naqdi said. We had never seen a real war to gain real experience to learn how to fight with America. In these five months, we have learned how. We have also seen how the American military is weaker than what we perceived.

Domestic Munitions Production and Global Exposure

Beyond tactical insights, the IRGC general maintained that domestic production lines are churning out drones and missiles at a clip that outpaces consumption. That manufacturing rate, he argued, grants the nation the staying power to fight for years.

Should those primary military stockpiles ever run dry, Naqdi warned that Tehran possesses a fallback strategy: pivoting its focus toward thousands of American economic assets scattered across the globe.