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Tehran has spent decades preparing for — and welcoming — a US attack on the ground, a senior Iranian official said, as fresh explosions rocked the region on the eighth day of renewed US-Iranian strikes.
Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian-American academic identified as the “mouthpiece” of the regime, also boasted that Tehran had just launched a “new missile” while separating and burying its weapons underground to counter American air campaigns.
“The Americans are planning an attack. I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m not saying it’s going to happen in the next few days. But they have plans to attack,” Marandi, a former adviser to Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, in an interview with political analyst Glenn Diesen.
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian-American scholar who is often identified as the “mouthpiece” of the regime said that Tehran has just launched a new missile. (Akila Jayawardena/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Whether they do it or not, we’ll see. But the Iranians, as you said, the Iranian strikes are focused on Bahrain and Kuwait, and that’s because that’s where most of the American assets are positioned for ground attack,” Diesen said.
Marandi’s comments came as violence intensified in western and southern Iran as Saturday approached
Iran has also launched missile and drone salvos targeting US-aligned areas in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Jordanian officials confirmed they had intercepted 10 missiles early Saturday, while Kuwaiti authorities reported casualties and extensive damage to domestic and desalination plants.
In response, US airstrikes hit bridges, the main road tunnel, checkpoints and fortified underground weapons depots.
Multiple explosions also rocked the city of Khorramabad in Lorestan province in Iran. Iranian media said the explosion was caused by US missiles launched from regional bases in Kuwait, according to reports.
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A satellite image shows the second access tunnel and support buildings at the Khorramabad missile base in Lorestan province, Iran, before an airstrike in March. (Vantor/Unknown)
Khorramabad hosts the Imam Ali Missile Base, one of Tehran’s first underground facilities designed to store and deploy Shahab-3 medium-range liquid-fueled ballistic missiles, according to the Washington Nuclear Threat Initiative.
The building was damaged by Israeli airstrikes during the 2025 campaign targeting Tehran’s military and nuclear infrastructure.
Marandi also detailed what he described as a strong, underground network central to Tehran’s military strategy.
“If Iran wants to shoot missiles or drones, they don’t put them in buildings or piles in a certain area. They take out whatever is necessary,” said Marandi. “They shoot them down, then they go back to their base, or they take out different missiles and drones, spread them in different areas, separate them from each other so that the Americans can’t bombard them in large numbers.”
He added: “Everything that spread in Iran was put underground.”
The latest escalation between the US and Iran ended a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a 60-day freeze and facilitate nuclear talks.
A key issue centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, where the waterway has become a key battleground.
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Marandi said the IRCG is launching a new missile in the war. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump ordered renewed airstrikes within weeks of the agreement, or MOU, and on July 14, he floated the possibility of a ground operation.
According to Marandi, Iran’s military chief relied heavily on the ground situation and introduced a new weapon in the theater.
“Iran has that advantage, well, it’s been gathering missiles and drones for decades, and it’s still doing that,” Marandi said.
“They, I think, last night launched a new missile in the war,” he said of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG).
“The Iranians are hitting hard, and they are ready for a world war. They have been preparing for decades.”
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Marandi concluded that Tehran views US action as a direct way to end the conflict on its own terms.
“The Iranians – we discussed this during the 40-day war earlier on your show – when I said the Iranians actually wanted the Americans to attack the world, and it’s the same now, because they felt that if there was an attack on the world, they would win,” he told Diesen.
