An Iranian army spokesperson on Saturday said that Iranian forces were stronger than when the US and Israel started the war in February and would strike American targets without “geographic restrictions” if attacked.
The fresh warning to the US comes amid Trump’s renewed threats against the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said Iranian forces would act on the orders of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and could target US military bases even outside the region if Washington resumes strikes on Iran, news agency AFP reported, citing Iranian state media.
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“Today, the Islamic Republic’s armed forces… having gained experience from direct confrontation with the United States and the Israeli regime, are on higher alert and are stronger than they were at the beginning of the war. They now possess greater motivation, commitment, and self-confidence,” he said.
“Under the order of the Supreme Leader, the response of the armed forces will be immediate, effective, and without geographical limitations,” he added.
The army general also asserted that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened only if the Trump administration agreed to Iran’s seven conditions.
Trump threatens further action on Iran
Akraminia’s remarks came after Trump continued his aggressive rhetoric against Iran, saying the US was “locked and loaded” to launch another operation.
“We’re building more weapons right now in our military than we’ve ever built before. If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we’re very much locked and loaded,” he said on Friday.
Trump said he was undecided about an attack, saying, “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country, if possible, but maybe I’ll have to.”
Trump’s remarks came after he seemed to partially agree with Vice President JD Vance, who laid much of the blame for the Republicans’ midterm setback on the Iran war and its economic impact on Americans. Trump said he agreed partly with Vance but defended the war, saying he would “do it again” if faced with the same choice.
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The US president claimed that Israel and the wider Middle East would not exist if he had not stopped Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
US carries out limited strikes on Iran
Trump later said the US military had carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting an Iranian air defence system. “They knocked out — they built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five,” he told reporters at West Palm Beach, Florida.
Iranian state media reported two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, a crucial waterway for oil shipments. These strikes were the first since Trump’s Republican Party lost control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US midterm elections.
Meanwhile, mediators are working in the backrooms to forge a deal between the US and Iran. US Vice President Vance has spent the last two weeks personally involved in indirect talks aimed at reaching a new ceasefire and resuming nuclear negotiations, according to Axios.
Iran has reportedly expressed its willingness to discuss issues related to its nuclear programme, a key hurdle in ceasefire talks. A diplomat familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg that Iran was examining proposals concerning its nuclear activities submitted by Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides.
(with inputs from agencies)
