Iran's Revolutionary Guards, on Monday, cautioned the US against launching further attacks on the country amid the ongoing war. Despite offensives having eased up in recent days, the war's spillover into Yemen and continued volatility over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has left the US and Iran in a stalemate.
IRGC threatens fresh attacks, new targets
In its statement on Monday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that "there will certainly be significant changes in our defence and our counteroffensive" in the event of a new US attack, as per AP's reports.
“We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities into the battlefield, and the world will be surprised. Our targets will not necessarily be the same as before either. We have new targets that have not yet been attacked,” the statement added.
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IRGC, the Iranian military's ideological arm further said that the country was prepared for a “prolonged war”.
US-Iran in stalemate over peace deal
Hopes of a peace deal being struck between the US and Iran remained vague as the latter revealed that they had shared a list of 7 conditions that Washington must meet in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's top negotiator, revealed that the demands had been sent via Qatar as an intermediary, as per Iran's Tasnim news agency.
{{/usCountry}}Hopes of a peace deal being struck between the US and Iran remained vague as the latter revealed that they had shared a list of 7 conditions that Washington must meet in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's top negotiator, revealed that the demands had been sent via Qatar as an intermediary, as per Iran's Tasnim news agency.
{{/usCountry}}Although all 7 conditions have not been made public by either party yet, Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, revealed a few of them. "Our conditions are an end to the war on all fronts, the release of our frozen funds and an end to the naval blockade," he told Al-Jazeera.
In addition, Iran has repeatedly and publicly warned other countries against backing or supporting the US offensive in any way.
US President Donald Trump, on the other hand, when asked about the Iran conflict told FOX News that he was in “deciding mode” and warned that "very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future” if the Iranian regime does not “behave”.
Discussing his strategy to approach the conflict, President Trump proposed three routes: “wiping Iran out,” “letting them rot economically”, or “making a deal.” However, President Trump said he would “probably be open” to a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly. However, no such meeting has officially been declared so far.
The US-Iran offensive has since spilled over into Yemen as well as the Iranian-backed Houthis have stirred a range of attacks on Saudi Arabia in the past few weeks, threatening the closure of another key shipping route: the Bab-al-Mandab strait.
President Trump revealed, during his conversation with FOX News, that Washington is in contact with Yemen’s Houthi rebels following their recent ballistic missile attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and added that the group had agreed not to attack American personnel.