Iran Threatens Regional Infrastructure Retaliation Over Possible U.S. Strikes
Iran warned that any U.S. attack on its infrastructure would be met with extensive strikes on regional facilities, while both sides continued daily attacks in the Middle East.
Iran’s military spokesperson Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari said Tehran would respond to any U.S. attack on Iranian infrastructure by targeting infrastructure throughout the region, describing the retaliation as "more severe, more extensive, and more devastating than ever before." He added that the response would not be proportional but superior, and that Iran would not tolerate U.S. interference in the Strait of Hormuz, which he called an "inviolable red line."
The warning came amid the fifth consecutive day of exchanges between the two sides. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported launching two waves of ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan, while the Iranian army said it carried out drone attacks on U.S. facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain. The IRGC said the Jordan strike was a response to a U.S. attack near a children’s cancer hospital in Iran, which the foreign ministry described as a "cowardly war crime" against hospitalized children.
U.S. forces said they had completed another wave of overnight strikes, hitting Iranian command centres, air-defence systems, missile and drone sites, and for the first time in the current round of fighting, targets near Tehran and further north. Iranian state media reported strikes near Tehran, Qeshm Island, the port city of Chabahar and Semnan province, home to missile-production and space-programme facilities. The United States also said it targeted a vessel it accused of attempting to breach its naval blockade.
Iranian officials reiterated the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would not accept any agreement that does not benefit Iran and emphasized the country's ability to control the waterway from across its territory. Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia warned that continued U.S. operations could expand the conflict into new arenas, while asserting Iran has no disputes with neighbouring states and remains committed to regional cooperation.
Separate reports indicated that Iran may have asked its Yemeni proxy, the Houthis, to be ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea if the United States strikes Iranian infrastructure, suggesting a potential escalation of pressure on global shipping routes.