Iran Leader Claims US-Israeli Strikes Failed as US Military Releases Threat Guide

Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, claimed that the United States and Israel failed in their attempts to undermine the internal security mechanisms of the Islamic Republic through strikes that began in February as part of the "Epic Fury" and "Roaring Lion" operations. In a post on X, Khamenei praised police personnel and emphasized that they continued to fulfill their duties despite the attacks.

Meanwhile, the US military published a new guide for identifying regular Iranian army soldiers and their weaponry, amid assessments that Iran's ground forces have largely remained structurally intact despite severe damage inflicted on other branches of its military.

Internal Security and Police Operations

In his statement on X, Khamenei addressed the US and Israeli strikes against institutions responsible for maintaining public order in Iran, claiming they failed to achieve their objective. "The desperate efforts and malicious attacks of the criminal American-Zionist enemy against the pillars of order and social security... did not cause the brave police personnel to deviate even slightly from their mission," he wrote.

Khamenei specifically focused on Iran's Law Enforcement Command, accusing the US and Israel of targeting the agency responsible for internal order. He added that the continued attacks on police forces only highlighted their paramount importance, and called for strengthening internal security through additional personnel, equipment, and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence for data analysis.

Structure of Iranian Forces and US Threat Guide

The Iranian security system consists of three main bodies: the regular army tasked with conventional defense, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for regime defense and foreign operations, and FARAJA responsible for law enforcement, public order, and internal security. FARAJA is headed by Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan, who has been subject to US sanctions since 2010 due to his responsibility for human rights violations and the suppression of protesters.

Simultaneously, the US Army Training and Doctrine Command published a new guide titled "Know the Threat," designed to help US soldiers identify regular army personnel and their weapons, such as AKM and Masaf-2 rifles, G3 rifles, MG3 machine guns, and RPG-7 rocket launchers. The regular army comprises four branches: land, sea, air, and air defense.

According to an assessment by the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security from June, the regular army's ground forces number about 350,000 troops—including approximately 220,000 conscripts. While the air, naval, and air defense branches suffered heavy blows at the beginning of the campaign, ground forces remained structurally intact in the absence of a ground invasion.

Political and Regional Context

Donald Trump signaled a pause, announcing on October 8 that Washington would not resume military strikes against Iran before the midterm congressional elections on November 3, citing "productive talks" between the parties. However, such statements or frequent changes in direction may serve as part of the fog of war.

Meanwhile, reporter Hallel Bitton Rosen published that Israel's latest assessment indicates fighting with Iran could resume as early as the coming weeks. This emerges from a series of security situation assessments held in recent days against the backdrop of developments in the Iranian arena and US President Donald Trump's statements.