The 60-day deadline established under the June memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran ended at midnight Sunday without a final agreement to end the war and with increasing evidence that Tehran used the negotiating period not as an opportunity for de-escalation, but to prepare for a broader military confrontation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing Arab and Iranian sources.

The report noted that from the moment the memorandum was signed, Iran’s leaders had already decided to violate it.

Arab intelligence officials have gathered evidence pointing to a strategic shift within the Iranian leadership, under which Tehran is preparing to expand the regional conflict in an effort to exact a heavy price from the United States through its network of militias across the Middle East.

According to the sources, hardliners in Tehran doubted the sincerity of U.S and Israeli intentions, viewing the agreement as an attempt to ease strain on the global economy and buy time ahead of a broader attack. At a meeting following the signing, they agreed to prepare for the next war with the US and Israel.

The intelligence information, based in part on intercepted communications between Tehran and militias in Yemen and Iraq, indicates Tehran’s growing willingness to carry out offensive operations deep inside “enemy territory,” with the aim of creating deterrence that would prevent further attacks against Iran.

As part of those efforts, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders have dispatched military advisers to Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon to coordinate targets, assist in deploying missiles and advanced weapons, and prepare forces for direct offensive operations.

During this period, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders tightened their control over the military, appointed hardline commanders to key positions, accelerated missile production and expanded operations in conflict zones in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. While Iranian diplomats ostensibly conducted negotiations, security officials activated militias in Yemen and Iraq to attack ships, energy facilities and Saudi Arabia, and even launched missiles toward Jordan.

The next stage of the Iranian plan includes attacks on strategic infrastructure and attempts to foment internal unrest in countries across the region. According to the report, missiles, naval weapons and drone launchers have been deployed in Yemen at positions overlooking shipping routes in the Red Sea.

Iran is also considering carrying out ground operations inside Kuwait, including through southern Iraq. The plans also include deliberately sabotaging undersea internet cables running through the Persian Gulf.

The sources cited in the report say that Iran’s goal is to create sustained pressure across multiple fronts, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea, exacting a steep economic, military and political price from the United States and its allies.

“There is also a widespread view in Iran that the main war has not yet begun,” Mohammad Hassan Sangtarash, a Tehran-based defense analyst close to the Iranian government, told the Journal. “What we have seen so far is increasingly interpreted through the lens of ‘salami-slicing’ tactics, limited and gradual escalation designed to weaken capabilities before a larger confrontation.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)