Tehran politicians are holding back military from striking US fleet, Iranian MP tells

 

In an exclusive interview, a senior member of Iran's parliamentary National Security Commission tells Euronews that political authorities have actively restrained the military from attacking US naval assets — but warns Tehran will sink a US warship if that check is gone.

Political elites in Tehran have been actively holding back the military from striking US naval assets in the Persian Gulf, an Iranian member of parliament on the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has told Euronews.

This is the clearest public confirmation yet of internal friction within the Islamic Republic's power structure over how far to push back against the US blockade.

"Up until this moment, the political authorities and traditional decision-making bodies of the regime have actively restrained the military from executing high-intensity offensive operations against the US fleet," Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani said in an interview with Euronews.

He added that Iran had nonetheless signalled to Washington that any seizure or strike on Iranian vessels would be met with the sinking of a US warship or attacks on US regional bases.

"Iran views asymmetric naval retaliation as its primary exit ramp from the suffocation of the blockade," he said.

Ardestani sits on Iran's parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, one of the Majlis's most sensitive committees, which receives classified security briefings and is responsible for formulating legislative responses to foreign and defence policy.

Who is leading the country?

Meanwhile, reports have been circulating — unconfirmed by Iranian officials — that IRGC commander General Ahmad Vahidi has been playing an increasingly prominent role in day-to-day security decisions since the US-Israeli strikes on 28 February left Iran's new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei out of public view.

Khamenei has not appeared in any video or audio recording since then, but has released written statements read on state-run media, amid reports that he sustained serious injuries and has undergone multiple surgeries — claims Tehran authorities so far have not confirmed.

In his latest statement released on Wednesday, the ayatollah said that Iranian leaders "stand before the epic actions of the Iranian nation in its unique and historic resistance against two global terrorist armies."

"This places a heavier burden of responsibility on officials of the Islamic Republic — from the leadership and heads of the branches of government to all levels of management," Khamenei added.

Khamenei also reportedly ordered on Thursday that high-enriched uranium stockpiles — whose future remains a key obstacle to ongoing peace talks — must not be removed from Iran, according to Reuters, citing two senior Iranian sources.

Known for his hardline stances, General Vahidi is said to be part of a small clique that remains in direct contact with Khamenei and helps formulate Iran’s tough stance in negotiations over a possible end to the war with the US.

Ardestani dismissed the notion that the absence of individual leaders constitutes a threat to the state's survival.

"The system is run by its institutional architecture, not just individuals. No matter how many leaders are targeted, that 20% core base remains completely intact," he said.

"These martyrdoms deeply emotionalise that core base, driving them directly into the streets to preserve the state; therefore, physical elimination does not erode our structural stability."

He offered a breakdown of Iranian public opinion that he attributed to academic research: 20% of the population are unconditional loyalists, 20% are unconditional opponents, and the remaining 60% shift between the two poles depending on economic and social conditions.

Ardestani also said the war had inadvertently benefited the regime domestically by displacing the political fallout from the January protests.

"The civil unrest of 8 and 9 January had a profound psychological impact on the public consciousness," Ardestani stated. "However, the subsequent US-Israel military assault on Iran completely shifted the public narrative and erased the shock of those uprisings."

The country-wide protests began in December 2025, after the collapse of Iran's currency, the rial, sparked unrest in Tehran and almost all Iranian cities. Security forces killed thousands in a crackdown that reached its peak in early January.

Tehran's own Supreme Council of National Security acknowledged a death toll of more than 3,000. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran put the figure at a minimum of 5,000, while insiders in Iran and human rights groups claim the number may have surpassed 42,000.

Iran also imposed an internet blackout on 8 January that remained in force at the time of this interview.

Independent polling inside Iran is not possible under current conditions and the figures cannot be independently verified.

Military intervention 'counterproductive'

On what he believes Washington's most effective strategy would be, Ardestani argued that military force was counterproductive.

"As long as America and Israel launch military attacks, the fighting spirit of Iranians will be ignited, and they will stand up against the aggressor," he said, drawing a comparison to the Vietnam War to argue that the US misread the psychological resilience of a nationalist population then as now.

He warned that a US strike on Iran's energy and nuclear infrastructure would trigger a qualitatively different response.

"If that happens, Iran will immediately deploy every asymmetric measure it has withheld up to this point," Ardestani said.

"This means we will target regional oil wells directly, neutralising the energy infrastructure of the Persian Gulf so deeply that the international partners of these oil-rich Arab states will be paralysed."

The threat to target Gulf oil infrastructure would represent further escalation beyond Iran's existing conduct in the conflict.

Gulf states, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have maintained official neutrality while facing Iranian drone and missile strikes on their territory since February. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries together account for roughly a third of global oil exports.

On the disputed islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb — seized by Iran in 1971 and claimed by the UAE, which has never accepted their annexation — Ardestani said any foreign occupation would provide no strategic advantage.

"Iran can easily launch devastating anti-ship missiles from deep within its territory, such as Semnan or Isfahan, straight into the choke points of the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

'Steadily moving toward an initial understanding'

Despite his hawkish tone on military matters, Ardestani said he believed a diplomatic resolution was more likely than total escalation.

"I sense that Iran and the United States are steadily moving toward an initial understanding," he said, suggesting a framework could involve a joint fund for wartime reparations and structured protocols on the Strait of Hormuz, with nuclear negotiations following in a second phase.

Pakistan has been mediating between Washington and Tehran since the ceasefire took effect on 8 April, with talks covering the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, sanctions relief and the terms of any lasting settlement.

The truce has been extended multiple times without producing an agreement.

US President Donald Trump rejected Tehran's earlier 14-point proposal demanding a permanent end to US military operations, the release of frozen assets, sanctions relief and recognition of its authority over the crucial waterway as "totally unacceptable".

Washington wants Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles removed and a long-term halt to enrichment — conditions Tehran has publicly ruled out. Trump warned in April that failure to reach a deal would mean targeting "every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran."

Trump has also recently described the ceasefire as having a "one percent chance" of surviving.

This week, the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE asked him to hold off on renewed strikes for two to three days in a show of influence, which he confirmed publicly, saying Gulf leaders — who he said he admired — believed a deal was close.

Ardestani also argued that structural pressures would push Tehran's new leadership toward gradual domestic reform following an end to hostilities.

"People want material well-being, economic predictability, and a normal life. We now have a generation for whom access to the global internet is as fundamental as food and water," he concluded.

Source: Euronews