By Press TV Strategic Analysis Desk

Nearly one month has passed since the ceasefire in the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, requested by the American side after failing to achieve any of its military objectives.

On the battlefield, the enemy’s military war machine has fallen largely silent – not out of restraint, but out of necessity. The full-scale military aggression, launched in coordination with the Zionist regime and regional proxies on February 28, proved a strategic disaster.

Iran’s air defense architecture remains intact, its offensive capabilities have been demonstrated beyond doubt, and the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has only further galvanized the Iranian nation against the arrogant enemy.

Yet, while the military front has been lost, the enemy has not gone quiet. On the contrary, the psychological warfare machine has shifted into high gear in recent weeks.

Faster, cheaper, and more agile than its military counterpart, this machine now operates with intense mobility – flooding media platforms, diplomatic channels, and social networks with disinformation, false narratives, and manufactured crises.

The goal is simple – to achieve at the negotiating table and in public opinion what the enemy failed to achieve with missiles, drones and fighter jets.

But just as the battlefield strategy collapsed, the psychological offensive is also doomed.

Iran, standing from a position of strength, has made it clear – there will be no compromise on its key demands in any future talks. And the United States, exhausted, overextended, and diplomatically isolated, is negotiating from a position of profound weakness.

Silence of the battlefield and noise of propaganda

During active military confrontation, the battlefield itself served as the most effective rebuttal to enemy lies. Every failed advance, every intercepted drone, every downed missile, and every retreat of American or Israeli forces provided tangible, visual, and immediate proof of undeniable and unchallenged Iranian superiority on the field.

Even with restrictions on broadcasting certain imagery for operational reasons, there was sufficient visual data to confirm the precision of Iranian retaliatory strikes and the scale of enemy failure, as confirmed by a CNN investigation earlier this week.

But in the current ceasefire phase – fragile as it is – that immediate source of tangible evidence has diminished. The battlefield has gone quiet and the cunning enemy has exploited this vacuum aggressively.

Without real-time defeats to broadcast, the psychological warfare apparatus has filled the void with fabricated claims, selectively leaked “intelligence,” and an endless stream of hypothetical scenarios designed to portray the Islamic Republic as exhausted, isolated, or willing to negotiate from a position of weakness.

None of this is true. And Iran recognizes that neglecting the impact of this psychological campaign carries consequences potentially more destructive than military war itself. Material and spiritual costs of ignoring narrative warfare can exceed those of open combat.

Feedback-driven warfare: The enemy’s listening strategy

A defining characteristic of the enemy’s psychological operations is continuous feedback collection. This propaganda apparatus does not operate blindly but meticulously monitors reactions from within Iran’s political spectrum and adjusts its messaging to foment divisions.

Consider the recent flurry of fabricated details regarding supposed Iran-US agreements on the nuclear issue. These claims are demonstrably false. No such negotiations have taken place, nor are they scheduled. Yet the enemy is knowingly disseminating these falsehoods with a clear purpose: to measure reactions.

How does the Iranian public respond? How do officials comment? How do experts analyze?

This is media negotiation without diplomacy – a phantom process designed to generate data, not outcomes. The enemy is not trying to reach a deal but it is trying to map Iranian red lines, identify points of societal pressure, and engineer internal discord.

This is typical psychological warfare disguised as statecraft.

Diplomacy in silence: Iran’s strategic patience

While the enemy deploys psychological warfare aggressively to advance its operational and diplomatic goals, Iran’s diplomatic apparatus has taken the opposite approach: minimal media presence, deliberate silence, and actions away from the eyes of foreign and domestic observers. This is not a weakness, but strategic patience.

Iran is not negotiating in public because Iran does not need to posture. The strength of its military position, the demonstrated survivability of its leadership structure, and the cohesion of its society speak louder than any press briefings.

The enemy, by contrast, is performing for its own domestic audience – trying to manufacture the appearance of victory from the wreckage of military defeat.

But make no mistake – Iran’s silence on tactics does not mean ambiguity on principles. The conditions for ending the war permanently have been clearly defined and spelled out, and they are fundamentally non-negotiable.

The five non-negotiable conditions to end the war

First is the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway and Iran’s jugular vein. For decades, Iran exercised good faith, allowing all vessels – commercial, military, and otherwise – free passage through its territorial waters. This goodwill continued even after the 12-day war imposed on the Iranian nation in June last year.

But this time, the enemy crossed every red line. A full-scale war was imposed on the country. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution and top military commanders were assassinated. The goal was nothing less than the destruction and partition of Iran.

Under these circumstances, Iran has not only the right but the existential duty to exercise effective control over its territorial waters. The Strait of Hormuz is not a bargaining chip. It is not for sale, lease, or negotiation. It is Iran’s sovereign right and a permanent necessity for the security of every Iranian citizen, now and for generations.

Second is war damages and reparations. The identity of the aggressor is not in dispute. The US and the Zionist regime launched an unprovoked, savage war against a nation that was still negotiating in good faith. The attack took place on the eve of the next round of talks.

The material destruction, the loss of thousands of innocent lives, the injuries to thousands more, and the martyrdom of top-ranking leaders demand full compensation.

Failure to insist on reparations would not only be a betrayal of the victims but would set a catastrophic precedent, signaling to every aggressive power worldwide that they can attack sovereign nations without financial or legal consequence.

Third is the expulsion of American occupation forces from the region.

For over forty years, America has maintained military bases in the region with the explicit purpose of containing, weakening, and ultimately destroying the Islamic Republic.

Iran has survived two full-scale wars in the past year imposed through that very presence. While the armed forces may in fact appreciate having those bases within range when the time comes to strike back – as proven during the recent war – the strategic message must be unmistakable: a victorious Iran will not allow defeated enemy forces to loiter near its borders. This is a lesson not only for America but for all countries in the region: protect your sovereignty, and never host terrorists dressed as soldiers.

Fourth is that the end of the imposed war must include Iran’s allies in the Resistance Front.

Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen – these nations and movements stood with Iran in the testing times. They offered thousands of martyrs, especially in Lebanon.

Iran’s strength is multiplied by these resistance groups, and their resistance is strengthened by Iran’s unflinching and unwavering support. Rational, strategic, ethical, and religious principles all dictate that the Resistance Front cannot be abandoned or treated as a separate theater once Iran’s direct war concludes.

The enemy’s aggression must end for all. That’s the key demand.

The fifth point pertains to lifting of oppressive sanctions and annulment of unjust UN Security Council resolutions, which will naturally follow the realization of the first four conditions, particularly the establishment of Iran’s effective sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Without those four conditions, however, the possibility of sanctions relief is effectively zero.

The nuclear distraction: Proof of enemy weakness

The enemy’s recent reintroduction of the nuclear issue is itself an admission of failure.

If the US had truly destroyed Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, as it repeatedly claimed during and after the 12-day war, there would be nothing left to discuss.

The fact that Washington is now raising nuclear demands at the negotiating table is irrefutable evidence that its wartime boasts were lies.

The nuclear issue is being revived for three reasons only: first, to manufacture a victory narrative from a failed war; second, to pose as the victorious party for domestic consumption; and third, to try to justify the unjustifiable – the savage murder of thousands of innocent Iranians and the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure.

None of these reasons constitutes a legitimate diplomatic objective. They are psychological warfare props. And they will fail, just as the military campaign failed.

Strength confronts weakness

The United States is evidently exhausted. Its treasury is drained. Its alliances are fracturing. Its domestic public opinion has turned against another illegal war in West Asia. Its military has been humiliated by a country whose might it had underestimated for decades.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, by contrast, emerged from the latest imposed war with new leadership, its military doctrine vindicated, its society unified, and its strategic depth expanded. The enemy’s psychological warfare has failed for the same reason its military warfare failed: because it is fighting against reality.

As it has already been made clear, Iran will not compromise on its key demands. The Strait of Hormuz is not negotiable. Reparations are not optional. The expulsion of American forces is not a favor to be requested. The Resistance Front will not be abandoned.

The enemy can keep its propaganda machines running at full speed. But noise does not change facts. And the facts are these: Iran is in a position of strength while the US is in a complete disarray. The war is effectively over, and Iran is the undisputed victor.

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