TEHRAN -- A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Monday warned that Iran’s armed forces, while maintaining a defensive posture since the outbreak of hostilities, are fully prepared to adopt a more offensive approach if circumstances require it, cautioning adversaries to expect “strategic surprises.”
Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, the political deputy of the IRGC, made the remarks during a televised interview, stressing that the adversary initiated the war and that Iran’s military responses have so far remained within a defensive framework.
Javani said, however, that Iran’s defensive posture should not be interpreted as a lack of military capability or strategic initiative. 
He pointed to recent changes in the IRGC’s senior command structure, particularly the appointment of Major General Ahmad Vahidi as Commander-in-Chief, as evidence of an evolving military doctrine designed to strengthen deterrence and respond more effectively to emerging threats.
“The enemy should know that it cannot catch us off guard,” Javani said. “Instead, it is the enemy that must anticipate strategic surprises.”
He emphasized that the new command decrees issued to senior IRGC commanders should not be viewed as routine administrative decisions. Rather, he described them as a clear indication that Iran is adapting its defense strategy to the changing nature of modern warfare.
According to Javani, the decree issued to General Vahidi places particular emphasis on “maximum deterrence” and establishes a new operational approach in which defensive measures can assume an offensive character when necessary to neutralize threats before they can endanger Iran’s security.
The IRGC commander also reiterated the Islamic Republic’s longstanding position that Iran has not been the aggressor under the leadership of Imam Khomeini, the martyred Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, or the current leadership. 
He said the adversary has repeatedly made serious strategic miscalculations regarding Iran’s capabilities and resolve.
“Whatever is necessary to defend this land, ensure security, and neutralize enemy threats will be executed at the appropriate time,” Javani said, adding that Iran’s armed forces have already demonstrated their determination in recent developments and will continue to do so.
Vahidi’s appointment represents an important consolidation of Iran’s military and strategic leadership. A veteran of the Sacred Defense against the Iraqi invasion during the 1980s, Vahidi has held several senior positions within the Islamic Republic’s security and defense establishment. 
He previously served as Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and as Minister of Interior,
 giving him extensive experience in both national security and military affairs.
Meanwhile, senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ali Akbar Velayati hit out at Washington’s continued use of threatening language toward Iran, stating that America’s future will ultimately be determined by economic conditions facing its own people rather than decisions made in military planning rooms.
Velayati made the remarks in a post on X marking the anniversary of the August 19, 1953 U.S.-backed coup that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Muhammad Mosaddegh and restored Muhammad Reza Pahlavi to power.
He said that more than seven decades after the coup, Washington continues to rely on pressure, sanctions and threats against Iran. Referring to recent statements by U.S. officials, Velayati highlighted Washington’s continued emphasis on economic sanctions and the repeated assertion that “all options are on the table.”
Yet, he said, the consequences of such policies are increasingly felt by American families through rising prices and cost-of-living pressures.
“Whatever options may be on the table, America’s future will be decided at the family kitchen table—not around the war-room table,” Velayati said.