The Iranian armed forces claimed in comments published on Monday that the missile assault on Israel they launched the day before had concluded — but reportedly threatened continued bombings, including against American oil facilities, if the terror regime considered it necessary.
Hostilities between Iran and the United States have been in a state of tenuous “ceasefire” since April, when President Donald Trump announced that he would pause Operation Epic Fury to allow for comprehensive negotiations to end Iran’s illicit nuclear activities and establish long-lasting peace. The indefinite ceasefire, extended in late May, has not included a pause in Iran’s disruptions of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, or America’s naval blockade of Iranian ships in the strait in response. Extensive debate has also surrounded whether or not the ceasefire includes a pause in the hostilities between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Iranian terrorist proxy organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On Sunday, Iran announced that it had launched a host of ballistic missiles at Israel in response to IDF activities against Hezbollah in Beirut. The IDF reportedly targeted a Hezbollah terror installation in Beirut following Hezbollah rocket launches against Israeli civilian communities near the Lebanese border. The Iranian missile assault, according to the IDF, did not cause any significant damage, as the IDF successfully intercepted missiles approaching viable targets and the rest landed in empty space.
Following the military exchange, President Trump issued comments to reporters demanding that all parties respect the ceasefire, insisting that he would demand Israel not respond to the Iranian missiles.
“I am going to call Netanyahu right now and tell him not to strike back,” Trump told Axios on Sunday.
“We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It is going to be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now,” he asserted.
The missile attacks have not resumed at press time. Iranian military leaders have used their propaganda arms to threaten more attacks, however, while also claiming some sort of formal conclusion to the current exchange of fire. According to the pro-Iran Lebanese outlet Al Mayadeen, Iran’s military command center, Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s strikes “have been halted for now.”
“In response to the aggressions and mischief of the savage Zionist regime in southern Lebanon and the Dahieh area, which took place with the support of criminal America,” a statement from the military office read, “the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran delivered a painful response to this regime in support of the oppressed people of Lebanon.”
Those operations are allegedly over, but the message threatened “much more severe and crushing actions than before” if the Israeli government continued targeting Hezbollah.
Other reports translated from the Khatam al-Anbiya office share that the Iranian military officers formalized a “cessation” of the current round of strikes. Those comments were reportedly also shared with threats against Israel and the United States. Notably, Iranian officials insisted that Washington played a role in the violence this weekend even as President Trump publicly demanded that Israel halt its counterstrikes.
“If aggression and hostile acts continue, they [the U.S. and Israel] will face an even more vigorous response,” a Khatam al-Anbiya Armed Forces Command spokesman reportedly said on Iranian state television.
Similarly, the Iranian regime-linked Tasnim News Agency cited an anonymous regime “source” to report that Iran was prepared for an extended war against Israel if necessary while blaming America for the events of this weekend.
“They cannot shirk responsibility for the crimes of their rabid dog, Israel,” the anonymous Iranian regime voice told Tasnim. “The Americans will pay a price in this regard. Attempts to portray the Israeli and American fronts as separate are merely propaganda and deception. Iran will not allow the United States to stage such a performance.”
Another Iranian state media outlet, the Fars News Agency, reported that the Iranian government was also preparing strikes on American assets, including oil facilities, in the Middle East in response to Israeli self-defense operations. The Fars report, translated by Russian news agency Tass, reportedly stated that “Iran will carry out strikes on all US and Israeli oil and gas facilities in the region if its energy infrastructure is attacked again.”
“According to the media outlet [Tasnim], the list of potential targets will particularly include facilities belonging to U.S. oil and gas companies in the Middle East,” Tass shared.
Iranian officials also threatened the United States on the record. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, considered one of the most influential officials on the civilian side of what is left of the Iranian regime, declared in a post on Twitter this weekend that all American “assets” were viable targets for Iranian attacks.
“The naval blockade against the Iranian nation and America’s green light today to the Zionist regime turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets,” Qalibaf stated, apparently disregarding Trump’s public rejection of further Israeli attacks.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry emphatically rejected any public disagreement between Israel and America. At a briefing on Monday, spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei claimed any Israeli military activity without American support was “impossible.”
“One should not overlook the fact that the U.S. State Department justified the attack on Iran as support for the Zionist regime,” Baghaei stated, according to Al Mayadeen. “CENTCOM has also explicitly acknowledged its coordination with the Zionist regime.”
“The United States’ responsibility for the aggression of the Zionist regime is evident, and responsibility for the consequences of any escalation also lies with the United States,” he concluded.