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2026-08-18 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

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Posted by badanov 2026-08-18 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [261 views ] Top
File under: Govt of Iran

1 [UNN] Iran’s Secret Plan to Escalate the War

Iran has embarked on a secret plan to escalate the war, with intercepted communications and other intelligence indicating a strategic shift by hard-line leaders aimed at increasing the costs for the United States and its regional allies, The Wall Street Journal reports, writes UNN.

Details
According to the publication, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran in mid-June, administration officials began working to secure support for a deal that, in their view, would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin winding down the war.

According to Iranian and Arab officials, "Iran's hard-line leaders gathered in Tehran and developed a different plan." "In their view, the pact was likely merely an attempt by the United States and Israel to relieve pressure on the global economy and buy time for a larger attack in the future. Instead of believing in negotiations, they spent the past two months preparing for a bigger battle," the publication says.

Their efforts reportedly "include giving the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps greater control over the country's regular army, appointing battle-hardened veterans of the war with Iraq and past domestic crackdowns to key positions, expanding domestic counterintelligence operations, and ramping up missile and drone production." The leadership, the publication writes, quickly seized the initiative by attacking ships to strengthen Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz and expand the battlefield to the Red Sea, which Saudi Arabia had used to circumvent Iranian control in the Persian Gulf.

Arab intelligence officials "have gathered evidence, including communications between Iran and allied militias in countries such as Yemen and Iraq, of a strategic shift within the country's leadership — hard-liners preparing their forces to expand the war and increase the costs for the United States," officials familiar with the findings say.

"Iran's leaders are increasingly talking about offensive operations on enemy territory, raising concerns among weaker Persian Gulf countries such as Kuwait," the publication notes.

Posted by Skidmark 2026-08-18 06:04|| 2026-08-18 06:04|| Front Page Top

2 not much secret about this

In 2026, Iran has sent missiles/drone to hit the following countries territory:
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Oman
Qatar
Kuwait
Cyprus
Turkey
Jordan
Israel
Iraq
Azerbaijan

Posted by Lord Garth 2026-08-18 08:48|| 2026-08-18 08:48|| Front Page Top

3 This might explain why that Iranian armored division was moved to Abadan, close to the Iran/Iraq border, which was reported a week or so ago. The division could be in Kuwait and hitting the American bases in under 12 hours if not stopped, although the casualties caused by air strikes would be very high
The US does not have a ground force in the region that could stop a land attack and if the Iranians destroy the pre-positioned equipment it would be at least weeks* before we could get more armored equipment to the region.

*Diego Garcia would probably be the nearest location of pre-positioned equipment. It would take 3.5 to 4.7 days to transit to Oman (18-20 knots)and that doesn't include unloading and forming the unit.

Posted by Chantry 2026-08-18 08:58|| 2026-08-18 08:58|| Front Page Top

4 Just wipe out the IRGC including the leaderships and be done with it.

Just make it so the hardliners will just give up.

Posted by Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2026-08-18 09:24|| 2026-08-18 09:24|| Front Page Top

5 We spent 6 weeks trying to do just that and it didn't work.

Posted by Chantry 2026-08-18 19:29|| 2026-08-18 19:29|| Front Page Top

6 6 Whole Weeks. We might as well just submit, right?

Posted by Frank G 2026-08-18 19:41|| 2026-08-18 19:41|| Front Page Top

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