If I were the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

Current holder: Ali Abdollahi, since 10 Aug 2026 (source)

AI analysis, not newsFirst edition, before review

What this office can decide

Coordinating the Army, the IRGC and the police.
Defence planning and readiness.
The chief is appointed by the Leader (Article 110).

What is not in its hands

War and peace are the Leader's decision, and parliament approves the defence budget.

The decision and what follows

From the question to the outcome, step by step

On the desk

In this war bridges, railways, fuel depots and residential districts have been hit as well. With limited means, what is protected first?

My decision

I would put protecting people and vital infrastructure first: power, water, fuel and hospitals. And through a mediator I would ask for an emergency contact line, so an accident at sea does not become a new war.

1A list of vital infrastructure with a backup for each item.
2Timely warnings and shelters for civilians.
3A contact line through Oman or Qatar to clear up incidents while talks are on.

Ifs and buts

If a ceasefire takes holdthe contact line is the first place violations are checked.helps

If strikes resumethe list of backups is the difference between hours without power and weeks.open

The upside

Fewer civilian casualties, and power and water restored sooner after each strike.
Less risk of a war neither side intended.

The downside

Means are limited: more protection in one place is less in another.
Some will read a contact line as weakness.

What would change my mind

If the other side uses the contact line only to buy time.

Divan's three goals

What this decision does for Divan's three goals

Each column shows whether the decision brings Iran closer to that goal or takes it further away. The middle line is today.

AI analysis, not newsAI estimate: direction only, not a figure

Iran stays whole

closer

The power, water and hospitals of every province are on the list: no place is left behind.

A stronger Iran

closer

Infrastructure that stays up keeps the country up.

First power of the region

Cuts both ways

A contact line prevents a war nobody intended, though some will read it as weakness.

The facts this analysis rests on

Every figure with its source and date

Start of the war

Official document

28 Feb 2026

The day the United States and Israel began the new round of strikes on Iran. The count of war days starts here.

28 Feb 2026 · Source: IAEA Board report GOV/2026/50, para. 13

7 Mar 2026 · Tehran and Karaj (Alborz province)Air strikes on oil storage depotsat least 4 tanker drivers killed 7 Apr 2026 · Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan and QomStrikes on eight bridges and rail and road sectionsat least 2 killed and 3 wounded in the strike on the Yahyaabad bridge in Kashan (IRNA)

Other seats in this group

All seats →

If I were in this seatCommander-in-Chief of the IRGCNow: Ahmad Vahidi

While talks are on I would keep a declared restraint at sea: no action against any merchant ship, and saying so in public.

See what follows →

If I were in this seatCommander-in-Chief of the ArmyNow: Amir Hatami

I would send engineering units to reopen roads and build temporary bridges, and place air defence first around the sites daily life depends on.