Rezaei made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network. The interview, released on Saturday, comes as the United States remains deadlocked over how to end the war with Iran, which it waged jointly with Israel on February 28. A conflict Trump initially assumed would be over within several days or four to five weeks is now nearing its eighth month, without a clear strategy for Washington to end it.

The top Iranian security official blamed the situation on miscalculations by Trump, saying that the fact that the US resorted to war and a naval blockade, followed by economic isolation, all show that Washington took the measures without making a precise assessment or calculations in military, economic, and political terms.

Rezaei said that the US waged the war on Iran only at the urging of Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Netanyahu plunged Trump into a quagmire,” he said, adding that Trump waged this foolish war and is foolishly continuing it. It was and is in the benefit of the US to accept Iran’s conditions and end the war, because the more the conflict drags on, the worse the US’s situation will become, he noted.

On Iran’s conditions to end the war, Rezaei said: “We demand the release of our frozen assets. Secondly, an end to the war on all fronts, from Lebanon to other fronts. They must refrain from internal interference and aggression and lift the naval blockade.”

The top security official emphasized that Iran is fully prepared to defend itself if a new massive conflict is launched against its territory.

“We have fully prepared ourselves for a decisive war, and the US’s military vulnerabilities are completely known to us. And we are far better prepared this time,” he said, explaining that Iran has enhanced its military capabilities, citing as an example the recent testing of advanced anti-ship cluster missiles near a US aircraft carrier.

“Therefore, we are fully prepared,” he said, adding that if the US launches its military aggression again, Iran, in a more powerful way, will deal a more painful blow to the US.
 

Rezaei reiterated that Iran’s attacks on US bases in neighboring countries targeted American assets, not those countries’ soil, and advised neighbors not to join Washington’s economic war on Tehran.

He also said that Iran is serious about defending itself, and that if the military conflict resumes, Iran will deal more decisive blows to the bases where US warships take off.

There is only one solution, and that is for Iran’s neighboring countries to prevent these aircraft from flying, he added.

He rejected claims that the ongoing Yemeni clashes with Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb are a continuation of the war on Iran, stressing that the warmongering by Trump and Netanyahu is leading the globe into the Third World War.

On Iran’s nuclear program and the recent US-drafted resolution adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, Rezaei said that Iran has so far remained in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, amid all the pressure it has faced despite its full cooperation. However, he added, Iran is now considering possible withdrawal from the NPT, and the decision depends on the US’s behavior.