Iran has issued a stern warning that any further US attacks on its national infrastructure will trigger a broader campaign of regional destruction. Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, declared that Tehran would not tolerate American interference in the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as an “inviolable red line.” According to Zolfaqari, if the threats made by the president of the United States to target the Islamic Republic’s infrastructure are carried out, Iran’s armed forces will strike regional infrastructure that has remained intact solely due to Tehran’s previous restraint.
He emphasized that the Iranian response would not be merely proportional but “superior,” warning that any retaliation would be “more severe, more extensive, and more devastating than ever before.”
This escalation follows five consecutive days of direct military exchanges between the two nations. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it had launched two waves of ballistic missiles against a US military base in Jordan. The IRGC stated this action was a direct response to a US attack near a children’s cancer hospital in Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei Baghaei condemned the incident on X, labeling the strike “a cowardly war crime against the most innocent of human beings” and noting the severe suffering caused to the hospitalized children.
The US military confirmed it completed another wave of overnight strikes, hitting Iranian command centers, air defense systems, and missile and drone capabilities. Notably, these operations included targets around Tehran and further north in the country for the first time in the current round of fighting. Iranian state-run media reported strikes near Tehran, Qeshm Island, the southern port city of Chabahar, and Semnan province, which houses key ballistic missile production facilities and the Islamic Republic's space programme.
US forces also reported targeting a vessel they accused of attempting to breach the American naval blockade on Iran.
The strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz has become a central theme in the ongoing conflict. Parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that Tehran has “no reason” to accept any agreement that does not benefit Iran, asserting that national security depends on maintaining “Iranian arrangements” in the waterway.
Ghalibaf noted that Iran’s new ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, remains the “ultimate decision-maker on war or negotiations.” While he stated that Tehran does not “welcome” war, he added that the country “must always remain prepared for battle” while continuing to utilize diplomacy when it serves national interests.
Military officials have also challenged the assumption that Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz is limited to its southern coastline. Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, spokesperson for the Iranian Army, stated that Iran is capable of exercising control over the strategic waterway “from every part of its territory.” He argued that the Americans were mistaken in believing that attacking southern bases would grant them control of the strait, reiterating that this capability is not dependent on specific coasts or islands.
Akraminia warned that continued US military operations could expand the war into “new arenas of confrontation,” though he insisted that Iran remains committed to regional cooperation and has no dispute with neighboring countries. The Iranian embassy in Zimbabwe further emphasized this stance on X, declaring, “The Strait of Hormuz has a master.”
Reports have emerged suggesting that Iran has requested the Houthis in Yemen—a key part of its "Axis of Resistance" network—to prepare to close the Red Sea shipping route through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the US proceeds with strikes on Iranian infrastructure and power plants. Sources indicate this proposal has been discussed within Iran’s leadership and communicated to the Houthis, who have reportedly deployed missiles and drones near the strategic waterway. This potential move would mark a significant escalation in the use of regional partners to threaten critical maritime routes.
