TEHRAN — President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned that the United States and Israel are aggressively pursuing a campaign to foment internal discord in Iran, having failed to break the nation’s resolve through direct military confrontation.

Speaking during a meeting with mayors of major metropolitan centers and provincial capitals on Tuesday, President Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran’s adversaries have pivoted to psychological and political warfare following strategic setbacks on the battlefield.

“After failing to force the Iranian people to surrender through military war, enemies have focused their entire plan on creating and intensifying internal divisions,” Pezeshkian stated.

Underscoring the critical necessity of national unity, the president warned against political monopolism, noting: “A group must not weaken the country under the illusion that they are ‘all-knowing’; public participation by all citizens is the most important way to overcome conspiracies.”

Pezeshkian’s remarks come in the wake of the major military confrontation that erupted on February 28, during which joint US-Israeli strikes and regional escalations were met with comprehensive retaliatory missile and drone operations by Iranian armed forces. Iran has established operational deterrence and retained the upper hand during the conflict, demonstrating advanced air defense capabilities and the capacity to project precision firepower against critical adversary infrastructure across the region.

The military deadlock and subsequent failure to achieve operational objectives—such as neutralizing Iran’s strategic assets—have forced Washington and Tel Aviv to recalibrate their posture. Facing domestic political fallout and strategic exhaustion following the February clashes, the US-Israeli alliance has increasingly shifted focus toward hybrid warfare, economic pressure, and psychological operations aimed at fracturing domestic consensus in Iran.

Iranian leadership across both civilian and military branches has consistently maintained that internal cohesion remains the primary pillar underpinning the country’s defense doctrine. In his address, Pezeshkian called on local administrators and municipal leaders to actively engage local populations, address socioeconomic challenges transparently, and reinforce public trust to neutralize covert foreign destabilization efforts designed to compensate for adversary defeats on the conventional battlefield.