Mojtaba Khamenei aide's chilling '40 years' warning surfaces amid US push for Iran deal
Iran's top security official, who reportedly received a letter from Vice President JD Vance about resuming peace talks, warned in a resurfaced interview that wartime negotiations with Tehran could drag on for decades, and during which both sides should "be prepared to fight."Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), now serves as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and acts as a key aide to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.He also helped shape Tehran's military strategy during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.That eight-year conflict ended after Iran's then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, accepted a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that he famously likened to drinking from a "poisoned chalice."JD VANCE RETURNS TO WASHINGTON AFTER 16 HOURS OF IRAN PEACE TALKS COLLAPSE IN PAKISTANSenior Iranian general Mohsen Rezaei issues direct threat against President Donald Trump as U.S.
repositions aircraft carrier amid rising tensions with Tehran, according to reports.(Ayoub Ghaderi/YJC/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)"Ceasefire means an unfinished war," Rezaei had said of the war in a 2006 interview with the Iranian publication Baztab.
An English translation of the interview is preserved by George Washington University's National Security Archive.Asked whether both sides would remain in their positions and begin talks, Rezaei replied: "Yes.Negotiations can take 30 to 40 years and during that time Iran and Iraq should be prepared to fight."Two decades after suggesting negotiations could drag on for years, Washington has reportedly been seeking talks with Rezaei, a key power player in Iran’s current military leadership.Vance sent him a letter proposing renewed peace talks between the United States and Iran in October, the Wall Street Journal reported.Iran said it had received a letter from Vance but had not responded, according to Iranian state media.
The semi-official Tasnim News Agency said Iran was awaiting ...