The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says its specialised forces have managed to destroy three American GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) and defuse another left behind in the recent illegal war of aggression in Iran’s Zanjan Province.
In a statement on Sunday, the public relations department of the provincial IRGC said that the air-launched, precision-guided bunker-buster bombs were discovered during operations to neutralise unexploded ammunition during the ongoing ceasefire in the US-Israeli military assault against Iran.
These included ‘the discovery and destruction of three GBU-57 bunker-buster missiles as well as the discovery and neutralisation of another one, which was safely delivered to the appropriate centres.’
Known as the world’s largest non-nuclear bomb, GBU-57 MOP is a 30,000-pound weapon designed to destroy deeply buried, hardened facilities.
According to the statement, the IRGC forces also discovered and neutralised more than 9,500 bomblets that were dropped by hostile fighter jets in order to contaminate critical sites across the province.
They also defused various types of missiles and rockets, which had been fired from F15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets, but did not function.
Among those rockets, 52 were destroyed and 10 more were delivered to the relevant Iranian centres and authorities ‘for necessary measures’.
Meanwhile, the statement announced the discovery of two cruise missiles, including a GBU-39 type, that had been previously intercepted and shot down by the provincial air defence systems.
The unprovoked US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.
The Iranian armed forces unleashed 100 waves of successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.
On April 8th, forty days into the war, a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire went into effect but the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement.
US President Donald Trump unilaterally extended the truce, saying his administration would wait for an Iranian proposal for a second round of talks in Islamabad.
However, Tehran has refrained from committing to a second round of negotiations, with authorities citing Washington’s excessive demands and ‘naval blockade’ of Iran as two main impediments to concluding the war.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry says its forces have arrested terrorists behind the shooting of people who’d participated in street rallies in Kerman province to condemn the illegal US-Israeli war of aggression against the country.
In a statement released on Sunday, the ministry said that its forces, in cooperation with forces from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), police, and the provincial Justice Department, managed to identify and arrest the main terrorist responsible for shooting at the protesters in Kerman’s Azadi Square, and his three accomplices, including two men and a woman.
It added that the terrorists had opened fire on people at the anti-war gathering, injuring two men and a young girl.
The arrested terrorists are affiliated with a pro-monarchist group led by the child-killing Zionist regime, according to the statement.
Several firearms and hunting weapons, as well as significant amounts of ammunition and explosive devices, were confiscated from the terrorist team.
The Ministry statement said: ‘Forty days into the US-Israeli unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, the strategic picture had inverted completely.
‘What began as a reckless display of American military supremacy became a slow-motion portrait of American desperation and debacle.
‘As the purposeless war dragged on, US President Donald Trump – the self-proclaimed “dealmaker” – found himself trapped in a labyrinth of his own making, with no way out.
‘Throughout this period, before and after the ceasefire, he kept shifting his statements and stances, constantly moving the goalposts – like a man no longer in control.
‘His bewilderment is no longer a tactical secret. It is a public spectacle.
‘It has leaked from the Pentagon. It has flashed across cable news outlets. It has whispered through the corridors of Capitol Hill. He and his aides can no longer hide it.
‘Every passing day erodes what remains of America’s standing in the world. The so-called “superpower” has been reduced to a paper tiger.
‘Meanwhile, Iran watches patiently, holding the hourglass over the head of a corrupt, criminal, child-murdering American president.
‘Iranian officials understand something Trump doesn’t, something he refuses to accept: time is the ultimate weapon, and Tehran has seized it. The US-dominated era is effectively over.’
The statement continued that at the start of this war imposed on the Iranian people, ‘American propaganda dominated global airwaves. Trump’s threats trended on social media. His generals held round-the-clock briefings with the confidence of men who believed they had already won.
‘Today, global markets, diplomatic emissaries, and media outlets are no longer hanging on to Trump’s tweets, his boasts, or the hollow threats of his embattled war secretary.
‘Instead, they are waiting – attentively, even respectfully – for Iran’s next move.
‘They scan Tehran for signals. They parse the statements of Iranian officials for nuance. They watch the periodic diplomatic trips of Iran’s foreign minister to Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow not as acts of desperation, but as strategic choreography.
‘Because the world has quietly realised what the American regime refuses to admit: Iran still holds the cards that matter.
‘Trump has already played – and burned – nearly all of his.
‘Consider the inventory of Iranian leverage that remains completely untouched after the recent war: Other strategic straits beyond Hormuz that could be closed with a single decision, weapons developed and stockpiled but never yet deployed in combat, irregular naval warfare tactics kept deliberately in the shadows and waiting for the right moment to emerge, a fully intact bank of vital targets across the region and inside the occupied territories and the membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
‘By contrast, Trump has exhausted all options – military and non-military. His military strikes failed to break Iran’s will.
‘His naval blockade backfired, alienating allies and disrupting global oil markets.
‘His economic pressure campaign reached its limits months ago. His move to foment internal discord in Iran collapsed the moment the Iranian leadership and people announced they stand together and rally behind their flag.
‘Trump has no card left to play except the role of the loser frantically searching for an exit.
‘Nowhere was this power shift more visible than in Islamabad, where the two sides convened weeks ago for the first round of talks brokered by the Pakistani government.
‘The Iranian delegation – led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf – refused to make any concessions and negotiated from a position of strength, catching the Americans off guard.
‘Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s three-leg tour, beginning with Pakistan, is consistent with Iran’s broader negotiating strategy.
‘He conveyed the “workable framework” to the Pakistani negotiators to permanently end the imposed war.
‘It serves one clear and unmistakable purpose: to remind the US and its allies of the fundamental principles that Iran will never compromise on.
‘And, this time, Iran is stating these terms openly, publicly, and clearly.
‘First of all are war reparations. America must pay for the destruction it has caused in Iran, for every bomb dropped, every building destroyed, every port damaged, every civilian infrastructure struck. The math will be done. The bill will be presented.
‘Secondly, the Strait of Hormuz is no longer an international waterway that will operate on America’s terms.
‘The previous era, when US warships came and went as they pleased, when American carriers transited without acknowledgment of Iranian sovereignty, is gone forever.
‘Iran’s control over the Strait is absolute and non-negotiable now.
‘Thirdly, neither Iran’s nuclear programme nor its missile capabilities will ever be discussed at any negotiating table in the future.
‘These are not bargaining chips. These are permanent assets of the Iranian nation, earned through decades of sacrifice, defended through decades of sanctions, and now secured through forty days of imposed war of aggression.’