A top Iranian military official has declared that Iran will retaliate against any base used as a launch point for attacks, whether controlled by the U.S., U.K., or other allied forces.
“There will be no distinction in targeting British or American forces if Iran is attacked from any base in the region or within the range of Iranian missiles,” the official, whose identity was not disclosed, told The Telegraph.
He further warned: “When the time comes, it won’t matter whether you’re an American, British, or Turkish soldier – you will be targeted if your base is used by Americans.”
The statement follows the U.S. deployment of B-2 stealth bombers, C-17 cargo planes, and refueling tankers to the Diego Garcia, a British-controlled base in the Indian Ocean that houses U.S. forces. The base has previously played a strategic role in American military operations in the Middle East.
Iranian state media reported that Tehran would target the Diego Garcia military base with ballistic missiles and suicide drones if the U.S. carried out any hostile actions against Iran.
The report warned: “Iran has sufficient weaponry to strike from its mainland, including advanced versions of the Khorramshahr missile with an intermediate range and the Shahed-136B kamikaze drone, which has a range of 4,000 km (2,485 miles).”
Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran has rejected a proposal to restart nuclear talks, which was outlined in a letter sent by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“While the possibility of direct negotiations between both sides has been rejected in this response, it has been emphasized that the path for indirect negotiations remains open,” Pezeshkian said.
Trump told NBC News on Saturday that Iran must agree to a new deal or face severe repercussions. “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” he warned. “Bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
He also threatened to impose additional economic sanctions if Iran refuses to reach an agreement with the U.S. to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.
During his first term as U.S. president from 2017 to 2021, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, which had imposed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Following the U.S. withdrawal in 2018 and the reimposition of sweeping sanctions, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had accumulated enough fissile material for multiple nuclear bombs but had not taken steps to construct one.
Earlier this week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that Iran is not currently developing a nuclear weapon but it is actively expanding its drone and missile programs.
Meanwhile, U.S. Strategic Command chief General Anthony Cotton told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that if Iran chose to pursue a nuclear weapon, it could generate enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb in under a week. In his written testimony, Cotton also highlighted Iran’s growing stockpile of highly enriched uranium and the deployment of advanced IR-6 centrifuges, particularly at the Fordow facility.
