Iranian Army commander Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami said on September 27, at the first National Iranian Soldier Festival at Imam Ali Officers’ University in Tehran, that the imposed war had reached a “sensitive and decisive” stage. “If Iran cannot trade, if Iran cannot live, no one will be able to trade or live. The Strait of Hormuz is the strait of our dignity and honour, and the country’s enemies will not be allowed to use this major logistical chokepoint while the Iranian people are deprived,” he said.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia told Iranian television the same day that the US position in the region was “not good” and that it might launch a new attack, “but we are more prepared than before,” adding that the army had brought new equipment into its combat organisation and trained with it, and warning that the United States would suffer greater damage if it attacked again. Iran’s enemies “thought that after the blows to Hamas and Hezbollah and the fall of Assad, conditions were right to attack Iran,” he said, arguing that their goals were not achieved.
The remarks came after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting. On the evening of September 26, armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi said on television that Iran’s missiles and drones “have become more advanced and more powerful, and this time, we have surprises in store for the enemy.”