Iran signals preparations for a renewed war with the US as warnings and diplomacy intensify
Iran has signalled that it is preparing for a renewed war with the United States. Tehran is issuing public warnings to Washington and its allies in an apparent effort to deter President Donald Trump from restarting the ongoing conflict. Over the past month, Iranian military commanders have made a series of statements.
They claim Iran has built up large stockpiles of a new type of weaponry. If the United States resumes its attacks, those weapons would be used to strike targets beyond the Middle East as well.
Iranian officials have threatened to widen the range of targets if the conflict resumes, including severing undersea internet cables, attacking artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, and striking regional oil and gas facilities.
Late last month, Hossein Mohebi, spokesperson for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said: 'The war is not over. The Revolutionary Guard has prepared itself for a long-term war.' Saying the world would be surprised, he added: 'We hold new targets that have not yet been attacked.'
Tehran has also warned that if the United States and Israel make another 'miscalculation', Iran's armed forces will respond more harshly than before. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, issued the warning in a post on X last Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to drag the United States into a new war with Iran in order to avoid imprisonment. At the same time, he warned Washington against launching fresh military operations against Iran.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in Tehran on his first visit to Iran since the war began. He travelled to Tehran from Bahrain after meeting officials of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). During the visit, he is scheduled to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
At a global security forum in the Qatari capital Doha, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said his country had made the utmost effort to bring Iran and the United States to the negotiating table, signalling continued attempts to keep a diplomatic path open.
Tensions are also visible on the water. A tugboat near the Strait of Hormuz has been hit by two unidentified objects, the British maritime security monitoring agency UKMTO said last Sunday. In a statement, the agency said the tugboat, travelling south near the coast of the United Arab Emirates, was reported to have been struck by two unknown objects.
Iran has said its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz remain unchanged. However, Tehran's proposal for a limited seven-day ceasefire with the United States to reopen the vital waterway is still open for discussion, Abbas Araghchi told Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency in an interview last Sunday.
All told, war preparations and harsh warnings are running in parallel with a ceasefire proposal and diplomatic visits. Tehran's message is clear: if attacked again, the response will be broader and harsher than before — but the door to talks has not been fully closed.
