Iranian officials have nevertheless noted positive steps in mediated negotiations with the US, which is gearing up for key midterm elections next week.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a warning to the world that “any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response."
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It comes as urgent diplomatic efforts continue to avoid a new all-out Iran war, which would have devastating consequences for the Middle East and beyond.
Khamenei met with Iran’s top military commanders on Saturday, presenting them with directives to prepare for potential new US-Israeli military action, according to the official IRNA news agency.
It follows warnings from the US that its forces could conduct a short but intensive military campaign against Iran after the US midterm elections next week.
The threat of a "geographically unrestricted response" means Iran could look to target Europe as well as the South Caucasus in response to a renewed attack.
State media said that Khamenei - who hasn’t been seen publicly since the Iran war began with US and Israeli strikes in late February - also called for an updated list of potential US and Israeli targets, to include “all kinds of physical and non-physical assets."
Khamenei also said that Iran would decide the duration of any new war.
"Should Iran’s enemies resume military or terrorist attacks, it will be the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation that will determine when and under what conditions those attacks will end," he said.
Iranian state media reported that in a meeting on Saturday, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Ahmad Vahidi, together with the Iranian army commander and his chief of staff, briefed the supreme leader on Iran’s military readiness and told him that Iran’s weapons production has increased “seven-fold”.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, estimated that Khamenei’s threats were “likely part of an Iranian effort to deter the United States and Israel from striking Iran.”
While Tehran continues its threats and defiant rhetoric, its foreign minister and its security chief have signalled positive steps in their mediated negotiations with the US via Qatar.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Saturday evening that Tehran could agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in just two days, instead of the previous timeline of seven days.
He said that Iranian diplomats were in Qatar for talks after a Qatari delegation mediated discussions in Tehran over the last few days.
Araghchi last month proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the US agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions. That was rejected.
In an interview with Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, Araghchi said that Iran was not planning to meet with US officials but called recent US efforts toward “broader dialogue” a positive step.
Araghchi said a decision on whether negotiations would be direct or indirect would be made “once Washington agrees to Iran’s conditions.”
It comes as the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, said he had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance’s proposing negotiations.
Commenting on the letter, Rezaei said “the tone has completely changed” and called it a “very good sign.” Araghchi also called Washington’s attempt to open dialogue a “positive step.”
Rezaei singled out an important change to one of Iran’s conditions: Ships in a reopened Strait of Hormuz would travel on a route agreed upon by Iran and Oman. And “everyone passing through this waterway will do so under Iranian management.”
He said that Iran was now awaiting the latest US response. Separately, Rezaei warned on X that any attack would bring “devastating blows on the aggressor using new weapons.”
Rezaei, who state media this past week said had met with Iran’s supreme leader, also said that there has been no decision to change Iran’s nuclear doctrine, but he noted that some Iranians have questioned whether that should be rethought if Iran is attacked again.