Mojtaba Khamenei orders Iran's forces to answer any threat without geographic limits

Update, 31 October, 14:07 Israel time

Axios correspondent Barak Ravid has given the first account of how many commanders were in the room. Ravid wrote that Khamenei met Iran's top three military commanders and told them that any renewed attack by the United States and Israel should draw an "immediate and effective response" with no geographical limitation, in the name of "maximum deterrence". Ravid did not name the three officers. His account differs in detail from the Abu Ali Express description of a wider audience of regular army and Revolutionary Guard officers. The reports do not settle which is accurate.

Haaretz, carrying Reuters and DPA material, dated the Telegram statement to Saturday. Its headline linked the meeting to reports that the United States was said to be planning strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections. The available text of the Haaretz report does not detail the source or substance of that claim, and no US official comment on it appears in the new material.

The Jerusalem Post framed the order as one directed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, describing it as a promise of an unrestricted response to threats from either the United States or Israel.

The story as first reported

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has instructed the country's armed forces to answer any threat, of any type and at any level, immediately and with no geographic restriction, according to a statement from his office. The Times of Israel reported that the statement appeared on Khamenei's official Telegram account and that it carried a warning to the United States against launching new attacks, at a time of growing speculation that the regional war could resume.

The remarks were delivered at a meeting with senior commanders of the armed forces, N12 reported, citing the supreme leader's office. Khamenei also ordered that Iran's military target list be revised so that what he called American and Israeli "physical and non-physical" assets fall within reach of Iranian forces. Ynet summarised his message in its headline as a declaration that all Israeli targets are within Iran's range.

What Khamenei said

According to the reports, the supreme leader framed combat readiness as one of the requirements for what his office termed "maximum deterrence". He said that if Iran's enemies renewed military strikes or what he described as terrorist operations, it would be Iran's armed forces and the Iranian people who decide when and on what terms the fighting ends. Ynet presented this as a threat directed at both Israel and the United States in the event of another attack, while the Times of Israel led with the warning to Washington. Both accounts describe the same statement.

The Israeli Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, which follows Arabic and Iranian media, said the audience included the heads of the regular army and senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's ideological military force that operates alongside the conventional armed forces. That channel's translation of the target list instruction refers to assets of the "American-Zionist enemy", a phrase commonly used in Iranian official rhetoric for the United States and Israel together.

N12, the news arm of Israel's Channel 12, reported further points from the meeting: Khamenei called for strengthening military intelligence, deepening defence built on domestic capabilities in both doctrine and tactics, developing up to date defence and security capabilities through new technologies, and reinforcing spiritual resilience and the spirit of jihad. He also spoke of meeting the needs of armed forces personnel.

Who Mojtaba Khamenei is

The supreme leader is the highest authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran and serves as commander in chief of its armed forces, which is why instructions of this kind are issued directly to military commanders. N12 referred to him in this capacity as the supreme commander. Statements from his office are routinely published through official channels, including Telegram, and are then picked up by Israeli and international outlets.

The diplomatic backdrop

The statement came as reports pointed to diplomatic activity in the Gulf. Ynet cited the Qatari outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed as reporting that Iran's deputy foreign minister was in Doha, the Qatari capital, following claims of progress in negotiations and the possibility that an American delegation would arrive. According to Ynet, Khamenei did not address the negotiations in his remarks.

The Times of Israel's live coverage on the same day also noted separate reports: a warning from Iran's army that any new US attack would widen the war, and Iranian media reports of a drone attack on fishing boats south of Qeshm Island, which lies in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran's southern coast.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports specifies when the meeting took place, how many commanders attended, or which named officers were present. They do not describe what the revised target list contains, what Khamenei meant by "non-physical" assets, or whether any change in Iran's military posture has followed. No Israeli or American official response is included in the material. The reports also do not confirm the status or substance of the negotiations referred to by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, nor whether an American delegation is in fact travelling to Qatar.