Iran threatens to strike US bases in Europe if used to strike Iran

Iran threatens to strike US bases in Europe if used to strike Iran

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Iran will attack “distant” American bases if US President Donald Trump strikes the Islamic Republic again, Iran’s top national security official says.

“If the Americans make a mistake and attack us, we will not content ourselves with targeting nearby bases, but will strike all nearby bases, and we will also target distant American bases,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary-general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, tells the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV channel.

He says that any base from which US planes take off will be considered a target, which would include European bases.

Rezaei asserts that Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no longer have the political ability to wage even a 10-day war.

Iran is not negotiating directly with the US right now, claims Rezaei. “I affirm that we are not conducting any talks with the Americans at the present time. There are no negotiations between the United States and us at present.”

He says that reports of talks in Qatar are “lies and slander, and its aim is to ease economic pressures and lower oil prices.”

Rezaei says that Iran is not even discussing its nuclear program with mediators, and that Tehran is determined to keep all its enriched material for nuclear-powered ships and submarines he claims the country is developing.

“The response we received from the Americans was a deceptive response and was marred by much ambiguity and confusion,” he says. “We asked them to give a frank and clear response to our conditions, and to this day they have not provided it, and they may provide this response in the future.”

Rezaei denies that there are any plans to meet US Vice President JD Vance.

He reiterates that the US must accept all seven core Iranian positions — including a lifting of US sanctions and blockade, reparations, and an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon — for the Strait of Hormuz to be opened.

“The first item in our diplomacy with the United States is ending the war on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon,” he says.

Rezaei claims that IDF soldiers “do not currently approach Hezbollah’s lines at a distance of less than twenty kilometers. Indeed, they do not approach even within ten kilometers. The same applies to their confrontation with Hamas.”

The Times of Israel Community.