Iran’s ‘new operational plan’ will drag US, Israel into unfamiliar territory: Top security official

Iran’s top security official has warned that the country’s response to any new aggression by the United States and Israel will not follow rules they are familiar with, amid reports that the US may use the so-called Mother of All Bombs against the Islamic Republic.

“Iran’s new operational plan will not proceed according to the rules they are familiar with,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said in an X post on Sunday.

“The repeated delusional rhetoric and threats by American and [Israeli] officials in recent days will not change the reality on the ground,” he said.

The Iranian official also said that Iran’s Armed Forces have prepared a plan for any new military adventurism.

His remarks came amid reports that the US military has developed strike plans that could involve using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), also known as the “Mother of All Bombs,” against Iran.

The MOAB is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal. The bomb’s production cost was estimated at around $170,000 in the early 2000s. Adjusted for inflation, the cost would be much higher today.

The MOAB has been used only once, in Afghanistan, during Trump’s first term in office. The US said the bomb struck a tunnel complex in Achin District, Nangarhar Province, killing a teacher and his young son among others.

‘Finger on the trigger’

Brigadier General Alireza Sheikh, Iranian Army’s Deputy Chief for Executive Affairs, also responded to the new threats on Sunday, saying the Army was fully prepared to respond to any threat, including threats to use the MOAB.

Sheikh said there was no cause for concern, describing the threats as part of a propaganda campaign intended to “intimidate the Iranian people and force them to retreat from their positions.”