Iran's supreme leader has warned that any renewed US-Israeli attack would draw an immediate response beyond the region. Qatari mediators are meanwhile trying to broker an interim deal before feared strikes after the US midterm elections.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned that Iran's response to any renewed US-Israeli attacks would be immediate and effective, and "without any geographical limitations". He spoke at a meeting with military commanders, according to remarks carried by local media on Saturday.
He also said the data bank of targets should be updated so the armed forces could hit financial and non-financial assets of what he called the US-Zionist enemies.
Qatari mediators seek an interim deal
Iranian officials held discussions in Doha on Saturday with Qatari mediators, a person briefed on the talks said. The effort aims to broker an interim deal between Tehran and the Trump administration to avert another round of hostilities after next week's US midterm elections. A Qatari delegation also met Iranian officials in Tehran on Friday.
Concern is mounting in Tehran and in western and regional capitals that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are preparing a large-scale bombing campaign against the Islamic republic after Americans vote on Tuesday.
Pre-emptive strikes and leadership targets
Tehran responded to the US-Israeli attack in February by closing the Strait of Hormuz and striking Gulf Arab states that hosted US military bases. Khamenei has been in hiding since February 28, when his father Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening hours of the war.
The predecessors of Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of the joint armed forces, and Major General Ahmad Vahidi, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, were also killed at the start of the conflict. That fuelled speculation in Tehran that another round of hostilities could entail more assassinations.
Abdollahi signalled that Iran could strike first. He wrote on X that the armed forces will not wait for the enemy to initiate an attack once indications of hostile action are confirmed.
Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote in an analysis that Iran has moved beyond its regional war doctrine to a war without geographical limits.
Source: Financial Times
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