Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is signaling a wider geographic scope for its response to threats, after its spokesman said new leadership directives had removed earlier limits.
Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference Saturday that, under the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, a recent directive calls for an immediate and effective response to any threat without geographical restrictions. Previously, the range of Iran’s response was managed period by period. Asked whether that meant limits on the range of Iran’s missiles had been removed, he replied: “This restriction has been lifted for us.”
Mohebbi said Iran possesses numerous means of bringing its enemies to a standstill and described the confrontation as an asymmetric war, but stressed that Iran must demonstrate its capabilities in practice rather than through statements. “Our duty is to show our capabilities on the battlefield,” he said.
The directive followed Khamenei’s earlier meeting with senior military commanders, where he also ordered a comprehensive update of Iran’s military target database to bring the physical and non-physical assets of what he called the U.S.-Israeli adversary within reach of Iran’s armed forces, according to the account.
Iran is not currently known to possess ballistic missiles with ranges beyond 2,000 kilometers, but American officials have previously warned that technology from Tehran’s space program could be adapted for intercontinental ballistic missiles, a report said.
The announcement came as President Trump said Thursday that American forces remained ready to resume military operations against Iran. “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I’ll have to,” he said. “If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we’re very much locked and loaded.”
At the same time, Qatar has been working to restart negotiations. A senior Iranian official said Tehran had sent Washington a proposal on its nuclear program through Qatari mediators but would not open talks until the United States meets seven conditions set by Tehran, and diplomats say Iranian officials are reviewing nuclear proposals passed along by Qatar, according to the report.
JBizNews Desk | Tehran, Iran
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