Iran has signalled that it used the ceasefire period following the June Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States to prepare for a wider
confrontation. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of sabotaging the US deal, calling it the "biggest opponent and obstacle." Notably, the 60-day negotiating period to finalise a peace deal between the United States and Iran has expired, with no intent of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were at the start. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accelerated missile production and reportedly drew up plans for pre-emptive strikes, including a possible ground raid on Kuwait, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing Iranian and Arab officials. According to the report, the period was used for:
- preparing for a larger military confrontation
- assigning the IRGC greater oversight over the regular army
- appointing veterans of Iran-Iraq war
- expanding counterintelligence operations
- ramping up missile and drone manufacturing
"We took full advantage of the ceasefire period," Revolutionary Guard spokesman Brig Gen Hossein Mohebbi said in July, according to the WSJ report. "We enhanced our capabilities, accelerated our missile production rate and improved missile accuracy." The IRGC also used the time to co-ordinate strategy with "allied militias across the region," it said.
While the US thought that the June MoU would facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lead to a truce, Iran's hard-liners interpreted it differently, the report said, adding that they assessed that it may give the US and Israel to enhance economic pressure on Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday accused Israel of sabotaging diplomacy. "The biggest opponent and obstacle to the implementation of the memorandum of understanding was and is the Zionist regime [Israel]," Araghchi said.
"They did their best to prevent such an understanding from happening; they did their best to make this understanding fail, and they did their best to prevent it from being implemented, and they are still continuing this effort," he added.
