Tehran [Iran], April 23: State media and Iran's military and security leadership say they are prepared for a resumption in the war with the United States and Israel as they continue to signal opposition to any major concessions during negotiations.
Authorities in Iran organised more displays of defiance on Tuesday night and into Wednesday with military parades on Tehran's streets, timed to coincide with the slated end of a two-week ceasefire, which US President Donald Trump has extended for an unspecified period of time after negotiators failed to arrive in Pakistan for talks. In downtown Tehran's Enghelab (Revolution) Square, a Khorramshahr-4 ballistic missile, one of Iran's longest-range projectiles, was moved through cheering crowds who had gathered to support Iran's establishment. A few kilometres to the north in Vanak Square, masked men holding assault rifles stood atop a truck-mounted launcher for a Ghadr ballistic missile as loudspeakers blasted, "Death to America".
"Seyyed Majid, the precision striker, plough Tel Aviv" was chanted by some as they addressed Majid Mousavi, the aerospace chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and called on him to order more missile strikes against Israel.
Motorcades led by pick-up trucks broadcasting religious songs also moved through neighbourhoods at night with participants waving flags of armed groups in other countries that are in Iran's "axis of resistance", including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
A clip shared by state media from the gathering in Enghelab Square showed Hossein Taheri, a religious singer, speaking to crowds of supporters while standing next to a wheelchair-bound soldier who had his legs and arms amputated after being hit by bombs while operating a missile launcher. "What else must [the] US do for it to be considered a ceasefire violation?" Taheri asked angrily.
Hardline judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said on Wednesday, in reaction to the extension of the ceasefire by Trump, that the "enemy is not in a position to set a time for us".
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and head of its delegation to the first round of talks with the US in Pakistan, has echoed the message that the establishment will not "surrender" to Trump.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, a relative moderate with limited power, has also ruled out capitulating to the US and expressed support for the IRGC but has said he wants the fighting to stop because he believes it benefits no one.
Source: Qatar Tribune
