Iran’s new defense minister urges US personnel out of region as Washington signals longer stay

Iran has prepared responses to potential US military attacks and would counter America's "mother bombs" with "father missiles," Iranian parliament deputy speaker Hamidreza Haji Babaei said on Sunday.

“We have considered every type of American bomb and have plans to counter them,” Haji Babaei told the state-affiliated Student News Network. “If America brings its mother bombs, we will send our father missiles after it,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Baghdad for Tehran on Sunday after attending a two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the Iraqi capital.

The United States has lifted restrictions on several Iraqi currency exchange companies, allowing them to resume selling dollars to travelers, the Iraqi News Agency reported Sunday, citing Iraq's central bank.

The US Treasury lifted the restrictions after the companies met compliance standards set by the Central Bank of Iraq. The move follows broader US efforts to combat money laundering and prevent Iraq's financial system from being used to circumvent sanctions on Iran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said parliament's approval of Mehrdad Akhlaghi as defense minister sent a powerful message to the world, demonstrating unity between the government and lawmakers in support of the armed forces, in an X post on Sunday.

Akhlaghi received 237 votes in favor and 15 against, with no abstentions, among 277 lawmakers present at Sunday's parliamentary session. The remaining 25 lawmakers did not cast votes.

Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi thanked Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken for inviting him to speak at the Royal Military Academy, saying he would address security threats posed by the Islamic Republic to Europe, Ukraine and the Middle East on Sunday.

“The Islamic Republic remains a serious state security threat to Europe and beyond,” Pahlavi wrote on X, citing terrorism on European soil, including the recent RAF Fairford incident, cybersecurity threats, drones supplied to Russia in Ukraine, long-range ballistic missiles and Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Pahlavi said he looked forward to meeting Francken to discuss the security challenges, adding that he would address them in his speech at the academy.

US President Donald Trump's recent remarks amount to an admission of defeat against Iran, Mohammad Reza Naghdi, a senior adviser to the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said during a military exercise.

“We have prepared the mother of all missiles for you,” Naghdi said.

Naghdi also threatened to target infrastructure and energy investments linked to countries attacking Iran in the event of further military action.

All such facilities and investments across the region would be within Iran's operational reach, putting their security directly at risk, he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to draw the United States back into war with Iran to influence Israel's upcoming Knesset elections or prevent them from taking place, Hossein Taeb, head of Iran's Basij militia, said.

Netanyahu needs 61 parliamentary seats to remain in power and could use renewed conflict to disrupt the elections, Taeb said during a meeting with organizers and speakers of nightly pro-establishment gatherings.

Taeb also said Washington was reluctant to resume military action because Iran's response had become unpredictable.

“The way we respond has become unpredictable,” Taeb said, adding that US officials could not anticipate where, when or how Iran might retaliate.

Iran should launch major strikes against the United Arab Emirates, despite already attacking Bahrain and Kuwait in recent months, Ahmad Naderi, a member of parliament's presiding board, said Sunday.

“We must strike, and we must strike hard,” Naderi said, according to Khaneh Eghtesad.

Naderi argued that Iran should act less predictably to counter maritime and air blockades, warning that a land blockade could follow.

Flights from the UAE should not be allowed to continue operating worldwide after restrictions were imposed on Iranian airspace, Naderi added.

Iranian lawmaker Ahmad Naderi said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may take a different position from his late father on nuclear weapons, as debate over Iran’s nuclear doctrine grows.

Speaking to Khaneh Eghtesad, Naderi said Ali Khamenei’s religious ruling against nuclear weapons could be reconsidered under changed circumstances.

“From Mojtaba Khamenei’s conduct, my understanding is that his fatwa will be different,” Naderi said.

He said he had supported acquiring an atomic bomb for more than a decade and argued that Iran should pursue what he called “ultimate military deterrence” for the coming decades.

Naderi said calls for nuclear deterrence had become more prominent, including among Friday prayer leaders and representatives of the supreme leader.

“After Hassan Nasrallah was killed, I said in parliament that the nuclear doctrine should change,” he said.

He also said Iran’s response to its adversaries had so far been insufficient and that Tehran was still working toward what he described as definitive deterrence.