Iran paraded a cache of highly advanced ballistic missiles across Tehran following a series of threats by President Donald Trump to "bomb the hell" out of the country if it doesn’t roll back its atomic weapons program. As the hardline regime worked to prove its military might, a senior Iranian military commander dared Trump to strike, saying he "does not have the courage to attack Iran."
The charged rhetoric signals that Tehran is choosing confrontation with the United States after Trump reimposed his "maximum pressure" sanctions campaign on the country, which specifically aims to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and deny it intercontinental ballistic missiles—the same ones used to attack Israel twice last year.
At the same time, Trump has expressed a willingness to pursue diplomacy with Iran, saying he favors that approach over conflict. But the military demonstrations across Tehran this week, held to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the regime’s "Islamic revolution," indicate the president is facing an uphill battle.
"Trump does not have the courage to attack Iran," General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, said on the sidelines of Monday’s military display. "Iran, as a powerful nation, does not bow to coercion."
Iran unveiled two types of ballistic missiles, the Khorramshahr and Hajj Qassem, as well as a satellite carrier dubbed the "Omid." The towering ballistic missiles can travel around 1,800 to 2,000 kilometers, putting them well within reach of not only Israel but U.S. military outposts across the region. The Khorramshahr "can carry multiple warheads," while the Hajj Qassem is a "precision strike missile" that can penetrate enemy air defense systems, much like those Israel used last year to fend off a swarm of Iranian missiles, according to the Iran’s state-controlled media.
Other missiles in Tehran’s arsenal are nuclear-capable and based on North Korean technology. Iran emphasized that it can now build much of this equipment on its own, without help from allies like Russia and China.
For regional observers, Tehran’s military posturing is part of a bid to restore its image in the wake of Israel’s devastating October strike on the country’s air defense systems and key military installations.
"These highly public shows of force are how the regime hopes to repair its battered deterrence after Israel’s successful military pushback against it in 2024," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a nonproliferation expert who analyzes Iran’s weapons program for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
As part of this image rehabilitation, Tehran ran additional air defense drills this week and revealed a "new solid-propellant medium range ballistic missile," according to Ben Taleblu, who said he expects Iran to continue testing Trump in the coming months.
"While Trump’s new presidential memorandum will be a bright green light to enforce maximum pressure sanctions which long atrophied under Biden, Iran in the short term will continue to ramp up its nuclear capable missile threat," he said.
During a Wednesday public appearance, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei praised the country’s military establishment for making advances on ballistic missiles and other weapons technology.
"Iran's defense power is known to everyone today," he said. "While the friends of the revolution are proud of it and the enemies are afraid of it." Khamenei’s remarks came after he toured a military facility producing a series of new "kamikaze" drones, which appear similar to those used by Hezbollah during its siege on Israel’s northern border.
Amid this flurry of military activity, Iranian diplomats on Tuesday filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Security Council over Trump’s repeated threats to bomb the country if a diplomatic deal cannot be reached.
"I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear," Trump told the New York Post on Saturday. "I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it." The president made similar remarks a day later on Fox News.
Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, complained that Trump’s "reckless and inflammatory statements flagrantly violate international and the U.N. charter."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran firmly rejects and condemns this reckless threat," Iravani said before the international body. "The U.N. Security Council must not remain silent in the face of such brazen rhetoric, as normalizing the threat to use force sets a dangerous precedent and must be unequivocally condemned."