Iranian General Dismisses Trump's Claims, Says War with US Will Never End

A senior Iranian military commander has dismissed claims by United States President Donald Trump that Tehran is becoming more serious in negotiations with Washington. Iranian media identified the official opposing Trump’s claim as Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a senior commander and deputy inspector of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. “Our war with the enemy is a war of attrition, a war that will never end,” Asadi said, as reported by CNN on Saturday (25/7/2026). The general reportedly indicated that Tehran would welcome the possibility of a ground invasion by American forces. “We pray to God that the ground troops of the American aggressor army are in a position where we can confront them on the ground battlefield,” he said.

President Trump stated on Friday (24/7) local time that he had not yet decided whether to launch a massive strike against Iran, while noting that Tehran was becoming increasingly “serious” in talks with Washington. “No, I haven’t decided,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he had made a decision to launch a large-scale attack on Iran. “So we are talking to them now. I think they are getting more serious as time goes by, perhaps for obvious reasons,” he added, according to AFP. Trump was previously reported to be preparing for a new large-scale attack on Iran, with the scale of the US military operation said to be larger than the strikes during Operation Epic Fury. In an interview with Axios, Trump said he was close to making a decision regarding the potential massive US strike but stressed that no final decision had been made. He also said Israel could join the latest US operation if requested, but emphasised that the US did not need assistance from any other country to carry out the military operation against Iran.