Khamenei adviser predicts US-Israel conflict will end before Nowruz

Tehran — Senior military adviser to the late supreme leader of Iran, Yahya Rahim Safavi, stated on Thursday that the conflict with the United States and Israel will end before the Nowruz celebration, which marks Iran’s New Year on 21 March.

On Wednesday (11 March), US President Donald Trump declared that there would be “nothing left” to strike in Iran, whilst also stating that America does not intend to halt military operations against Iran in the immediate future.

“My assessment is that this war will end before Nowruz,” Safavi said, as quoted by the Iranian News Agency (ISNA).

Iran’s supreme leader serves as the highest military commander of the Iranian armed forces. The previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died on the first day of the military operations. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was subsequently selected as Iran’s new leader. Iranian authorities have not announced any other changes in the nation’s military leadership.

On 28 February, the United States and Israel launched attacks against targets in Iran, resulting in damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East.

The United States and Israel initially claimed their attacks were necessary to counter what they considered a threat stemming from Iran’s nuclear programme. However, they subsequently clarified that the strikes were conducted because they sought to see a change of power in Iran.