Iran was prepared on the battlefield and responded quickly to recent strikes by Israel and the United States, but was diplomatically blindsided amid ongoing negotiations, an Iranian military analyst said.
The U.S. and Israel on Saturday launched surprise attacks on Iran, despite ongoing diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, mediated by Oman.
"Yes, diplomatically we were caught off guard, but in the field, no. We were ready. Our finger was on the trigger and all our equipment was prepared. You saw that in less than one hour after the attack by the Zionist regime and the martyrdom of our supreme leader, Iran retaliated. Therefore, we were not surprised in the field. We were able to respond very quickly," Hossein Kanani Moghaddam, a military analyst and former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Moghaddam said the situation stemmed from misplaced optimism among some politicians about the United States and mediation efforts, despite repeated warnings from Iran's supreme leader that the U.S. could not be trusted.
"But on the diplomatic front, yes, we were surprised. That is because unfortunately some of our politicians were optimistic about Trump and our mediator, Oman. The supreme leader had said many times that the U.S. cannot be trusted, and that through negotiations they wanted to buy time and deceive us. This has been proven again. Even if they sign agreements and undertake obligations, they will not remain committed, as President Trump did with the JCPOA when he withdrew from it," said Moghaddam.
Former IRGC commander claims Iran was militarily prepared, despite surprise attacks
