Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, appealed for resistance against the United States and for national unity.
On the 25th (local time), Zolghadr said in a statement, "There will be no retreat," adding, "On the battlefield, on the diplomatic stage, and in the streets filled with people, heroic resistance has demonstrated this and neutralized the enemy."
He went on, "Now more than ever the country needs integration and unity, and through this we must cause disappointment for Americans and Zionists (Israel)," stressing, "Only a nationwide effort to prevent remarks and actions that break unity will lead the beloved homeland to final victory."
This is the first official statement from Zolghadr since he was appointed in March after former secretary-general Ali Larijani was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
With the possibility growing of a memorandum of understanding for an end to the war with the United States, it appears the statement in such a hard-line tone was released to rekindle vigilance amid concerns that wariness toward the United States and Israel could slacken.