Countries across the region face the risk of being drawn into wider fighting if Iran acts on its threat to answer any new US or Israeli attack beyond its own borders.
The present war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders, according to Tehran.
Iran answered those strikes with attacks on countries around the region.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the killed leader’s son, became supreme leader in March and has not been publicly seen since taking office. On Saturday, he held his first reported meeting with senior military commanders, including armed forces chief of staff Ali Abdollahi, army chief Amir Hatami and Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi.
He told them to prepare for “maximum deterrence” and ordered that “any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful and geographically unrestricted response”.
Khamenei also directed commanders to revise Iran’s target list to cover “all types of tangible and intangible assets belonging to the American-Zionist enemy”.
Mohammad Akraminia, the army spokesman, delivered a public warning of his own. “If the US president once more embarks on adventurism in the region through threats and greed of the Zionists, the fire of war will undoubtedly engulf a wider geography,” he said.
The statements came after a Qatari delegation reached Tehran on Friday for talks with senior Iranian officials, with further discussions expected on Saturday as mediators tried to avert resumed fighting. Vice President JD Vance also sent a letter, at President Donald Trump’s direction, to Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
Vance was believed to have sought nuclear commitments from Iran, including permission for international inspectors to monitor the country’s nuclear programme. Trump rejected reports that he had ordered renewed peace talks, saying instead that Vance’s letter concerned medical supplies entering Iran.
Iran has said it will not send its highly enriched uranium abroad. Tehran is also seeking an end to the US maritime blockade on Iranian ports, waivers on oil sanctions and a truce in regional conflicts, including in Lebanon.
Rezaei responded through state media that Europe was “whining” about the costs of war despite having cheered it earlier. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote: “100bn Euro is nothing compared to the Earth-shattering blow Iran’s Powerful Armed Forces will deal against those who dare harm our people” and “Red lines are a thing of the past”.
The dispute is playing out around the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has blockaded the Gulf shipping route and the US has blockaded Iranian ports. In the week ending October 28, there were 155 inbound and 122 outbound transits through the strait, 70 percent lower than pre-war levels.
Iranian state television claimed on Friday that at least six tankers had been damaged by explosions in recent days in Gulf waters after allegedly striking mines. It said the vessels included a very large crude carrier carrying two million barrels of oil.
On Saturday afternoon, local authorities said a US drone bombed two fishing boats south of Qeshm island in southern Iran, wounding several fishermen.
An editorial in the state-linked Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper said fighting could break out after the US midterm elections on November 3. US Senator Chris Murphy called the US military plan for renewed war “insane”, saying it would bring devastating escalation and likely destroy commitment to the rule of law.
Comments (0)