Iran21 September, 20262 min read
Iran Warns US It Will Retaliate With New Weapons If It Resumes Strikes
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Iran says the United States is preparing to resume strikes on Iran. IRGC warns of new weapons and broader targets if attacked, signaling a long, changed-war.
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US strikes, IRGC replies
Iran’s central military command said it had received information that the United States was preparing to resume strikes on the country, warning that any renewed assault would bring retaliation against American bases and interests in the Middle East. Brigadier General Mohebbi told an interview that if the United States intended to attack any point in Iran, “we will stand ready to fully confront a US attack.”
The IRGC spokesman Hossein Mahbavi said Iran would broaden the circle of targets with weapons that would “astonish the world,” and he said “the targets are no longer as they were in the past.” The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned the United States and regional countries of the danger of committing any “mistake” against Iran, saying it would face “painful attacks.”
Hormuz pressure and drone
Iran’s warnings tied the next phase of confrontation to the Strait of Hormuz, with Al Jazeera reporting that shipping data showed 12 commodity vessels crossed the strait over the weekend, down from 35 the previous weekend.
Iran’s military spokesman Hossein Mahboub said on television that “If a new attack occurs, our defenses and our attacks will change significantly,” and he said Iran would “alter the weapons and the geography of war.”
Iran announced it downed a U.S. MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, with the IRGC stating that its air defense system detected the drone and shot it down.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz “will not open unless Iranian conditions are met,” while Al Jazeera reported that Tehran told Qatari and Pakistani mediators that conditions for renewed talks include an end to the war and US attacks, the release of frozen Iranian funds, and the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Diplomacy amid threats
As the confrontation remained at a standstill, the BBC reported that Trump said he was in a “decision-making” phase over Iran and that his options included further military action, economic pressure or a deal. The BBC also reported that Trump expressed openness to meeting Iranian President Masoud Bzhehkyan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Tehran on Sunday evening for the UN General Assembly in New York via Doha.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters warned that Tehran would consider states that allowed their territory or facilities to support US attacks “considered complicit” and could face an Iranian response. IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said the United States had “failed” in its war on Iran and called it “a historic and shameful defeat,” while he insisted Tehran had developed weapons during and before the war that had not yet been used.