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Iran has developed a range of undisclosed weapons, equipment and tactical innovations that will be revealed on the battlefield only if another conflict erupts, a senior defense official said on August 28.
Brig. Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that military commanders have deliberately kept the country’s newest defense capabilities secret, preserving them as strategic assets for future engagements.
“Commanders have orchestrated these surprises in a manner that upholds the principle of surprise while safeguarding military and defense intelligence — they will be revealed when the battlefield demands,” Talaei-Nik said.
The spokesman pointed to recent conflicts as evidence of Iran’s ability to defy expectations, saying adversaries had miscalculated the country’s capacity for prolonged warfare.
“The enemy believed that within the first days, our resilience and endurance — across the defense industry, armed forces, society, economy, government and state apparatus — would crumble,” he said. “Exactly the opposite transpired.”
Talaei-Nik said Iran’s armed forces and defense industrial base emerged from what he called the 40-day Ramadan war stronger than before, having adopted a culture of continuous adaptation.
“Throughout the war, through operational, tactical, strategic and technical experiences, we persistently refine our learning, skills, tactics, techniques and strategies,” he said.
He described Iran’s ability to sustain weapons and equipment deliveries throughout the conflict as another major achievement, saying the armed forces and defense industry never faced critical shortages despite the war’s scale.
“One of the other surprises was that the Islamic Republic, its fighters, armed forces and defense industry never ran short on the battlefield — neither in defensive capabilities nor in logistical support and weaponry,” he said.
The commander called the maintenance of supply lines despite adversary preparations “the greatest surprise in the defense industry.”
Asked whether the recent war had prompted doctrinal changes, Talaei-Nik said military planning continuously evolves in response to battlefield developments and shifts in the regional security environment. He described Iran’s overarching approach as “combined and asymmetric defense” — a strategy he said maintains active deterrence while denying adversaries the initiative.
“It is defense with the objective of defending, but employing offensive approaches so the enemy does not seize the initiative,” he said.
Talaei-Nik said Iran’s defense production more than doubled between what he referred to as the 12-day conflict and the subsequent war this year, crediting collaboration among the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, private companies and knowledge-based enterprises. He said cost-efficiency has been a priority, with production costs for some Iranian systems ranging from one to 20 times lower than comparable foreign products.
Rejecting characterizations of Iran’s defense industry as dependent on reverse engineering, Talaei-Nik said: “Our scientific and defense community has moved beyond the stage of copying and reverse engineering.” He specifically cited drone and ballistic missile technology as fields in which Iran no longer relies on imitation.
Iran has more than 90% self-sufficiency in defense production, manufacturing over 1,000 types of weapons, military equipment and ammunition domestically, according to Talaei-Nik.
He said international demand for Iranian arms had grown before the recent wars, with requests arriving from multiple regions, but that domestic needs now take precedence.
“After the outbreak of the Ramadan war, our priority is first to meet the needs of our own armed forces,” he said. “We then pursue exports according to demand and our ability to supply them. In wartime, exports depend on having a surplus.”
Talaei-Nik said Iran’s wartime assessment extends beyond conventional military operations, describing five interconnected fronts: the military battlefield, the social battlefield, government services and support, diplomacy and media.
“The battlefield must be viewed in its entirety,” he said. “These five fields determined the war’s trajectory toward the enemy’s failure and the Iranian nation’s victory.”
Talaei-Nik’s remarks line up with recent reports from Western and Israeli media, which confirmed that Iran has resumed the mass production of weapons, including ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones. The Islamic Republic has been also working to rebuild its air defense network, with some reports suggesting it is receiving help from both China and Russia.
Beyond these direct means, Iran has not yet made use of its network of sabotage cells, and its allies in the region, from Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen, remain fairly capable of playing a supportive role.
All in all, Iran does not seem to be in a rush to end the war, despite recent U.S. efforts to significantly increase economic pressure.
The Islamic Republic appears to be betting on a prolonged conflict, one that could outlive the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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