US intelligence: Iran shuns peace deal, prepares to continue war
US intelligence cited by The New York Times suggests Iran is not ready for an agreement with Washington and plans to keep fighting in the coming months. Tehran appears increasingly confident in its military capabilities, while officials warn sanctions could fuel further escalation in the short term.
Iran is unwilling to agree to a peace deal with the United States and intends to continue fighting over the coming months, according to US intelligence findings cited by The New York Times. The newspaper reports that the government in Tehran has become increasingly confident in its ability to strike targets across the Middle East.
The assessment matches the situation on the ground after hostilities resumed following a relatively calm phase, the journalists note. In recent weeks, Iran has attacked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and US forces in the region, while the US military has carried out strikes on Iranian territory, killing service members and civilians.
Sources familiar with the intelligence report told the newspaper that Iran's hardline government may be considering a significant escalation. Six months after the start of a war that has alternately quieted and flared up again, Iran has a much better understanding of its military strength and is more assured of its capabilities, the sources say.
Former and current US officials who discussed the issue with the authors say an agreement that would definitively end the US-Israeli war against Iran will be hard to reach. There is little indication that Iran is prepared to make any deal with Washington, and Tehran appears pleased by the intensifying political troubles of President Donald Trump ahead of the US midterm elections.
As for economic sanctions, which Trump hopes will force Iranian concessions on control of the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran's nuclear program, US officials who reviewed the intelligence report believe that in the short term they will probably only lead to further escalation.
