Iran's central military command warns of sustained strikes if US resumes attacks

Iran's central military command issued a statement on Sunday saying it had received information that the United States, with backing from some countries in the region, was preparing to resume military action against Iran. The Times of Israel reported, citing Iranian state media, that the statement warned any American attack would be answered with sustained strikes on US bases and interests across the region.

The command also said that regional states which lined up behind an American attack would themselves be treated as parties to the conflict. Haaretz, carrying a Reuters report, said Tehran described the preparations as a major new attack by the United States and its allies, and repeated the threat of sustained retaliation across the region.

Which body issued the warning

The Israeli Arabic-affairs monitoring channel Abu Ali Express, which tracks Arabic and Persian language military and media statements, identified the issuing body as the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. That headquarters is Iran's top joint military command, the body that coordinates the regular armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the parallel military organisation answerable to Iran's supreme leader rather than to the general staff of the conventional army.

According to the text circulated by Abu Ali Express, the statement said the United States had decided to renew its steps against Iran with a green light from several regional states, and that the decision was taken at a joint meeting held in one of the countries of Europe. It warned that if the United States made any mistake against Iran, all of its centres and interests in the region would be subjected to continuous, effective and painful attacks. It also used the phrase "the Great Satan", a standard term in Iranian official rhetoric for the United States, in warning regional governments not to side with an American attack.

The mediation track running alongside the threat

The warning came a day after Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, set out conditions for returning to negotiations. In an interview cited by the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera and reported by The Times of Israel, Rezaei said Tehran had passed mediators its terms for re-engaging in talks aimed at ending the war with the United States. Those terms, as he described them, were an end to the war on all fronts, the unfreezing of Iranian funds, and an end to the naval blockade.

Rezaei said consultations were continuing with Qatari and Pakistani mediators. Qatar has repeatedly acted as a channel between Washington and Tehran, and hosts a large American military presence. Pakistan borders Iran to the east. Neither mediator's account of the talks appears in the reports, and the American side has not commented in the material.

Why the threat to regional states matters

The element of the statement aimed at Iran's neighbours is the one with the widest reach. US forces are stationed at bases across the Gulf and the wider Middle East, in countries that maintain their own diplomatic and economic relations with Tehran. By saying that any state which supports an American attack would be regarded as a party to the conflict, Iran's command is putting host governments, rather than only the United States, inside the declared target set.

The Jerusalem Post reported the statement in the same terms, describing Iranian claims that Washington was preparing to resume attacks and threats directed at American bases and at supporting regional countries. The reference to a naval blockade in Rezaei's conditions indicates maritime restrictions affecting Iran are part of what Tehran wants lifted, though the reports do not describe who is enforcing them or where.

Points of difference between the accounts

The four reports agree on the substance: an Iranian military statement on Sunday, a claim of advance information about American preparations, and a threat of sustained retaliation. They differ in detail. The Reuters account relayed by Haaretz refers to the United States and its allies preparing a major new attack. The Times of Israel account, drawn from Iranian state media, frames it as the United States acting with the backing of some regional countries. Only the Abu Ali Express version includes the claim about a joint meeting in a European country and the specific wording about painful attacks.

What the reports do not say

None of the material contains a response from the United States government, the Pentagon or any named American official. No regional government is named as having given the alleged green light, and no European country is identified as the venue of the meeting Iran describes. The reports offer no independent corroboration of Iran's claim that American strikes are being prepared; that claim rests entirely on the Iranian statement.

There is also no detail on the state of the fighting Rezaei referred to, no timeline for the mediation, and no response from Qatar or Pakistan. The reports do not say whether the naval blockade Rezaei wants ended is a formal measure or his characterisation of enforcement at sea.