The American website Al-Monitor reported on Sunday that Iran is preparing for a second war with Israel, highlighting the formation of a National Defense Council as one of the most significant steps in its preparations.
According to the report, “the establishment of the National Defense Council is more than just a bureaucratic adjustment,” describing it as “a move to restructure command systems that were severely damaged in the last war with Israel, as Tehran increasingly views another conflict as inevitable.”
Al-Monitor noted that “Tehran began preparing for the next war before the dust had even settled from the first,” adding that “less than two months after the devastating 12-day conflict with Israel, Iranian leadership began restructuring its military command in anticipation of what it sees as an inevitable upcoming confrontation.”
The Supreme National Security Council recently approved the creation of the National Defense Council, a central wartime body tasked with coordinating strategy, operations, and logistics across all branches of the armed forces.
Although the decision was framed in bureaucratic language, it is widely seen as a direct response to vulnerabilities exposed during the June war—from faltering air defenses to the loss of senior commanders and nuclear scientists in a series of precise surprise strikes.
The structure of the National Defense Council resembles that of the “Supreme Defense Council,” which was established during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. That council enabled Iran to bypass cumbersome chains of command and make rapid decisions under fire.
While the formation of the National Defense Council is officially a defensive measure, its mandate could enable a more proactive military posture. The centralized decision-making structure may allow Iran to launch swift retaliatory strikes—or even preemptive actions—without prolonged inter-agency disputes.