Iran’s IRGC Navy says seven vessels hit, warns US of wider response

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on Thursday that four vessels involved in illegal oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf were simultaneously hit and caught fire after being tracked by its forces on Wednesday.

The IRGC added that three more vessels collided with mines west of the Strait of Hormuz, and warned the US military that continued provocations could lead to a wider response against its regional bases.

Trump says US ‘not negotiating’ with Iran, something will happen ‘fairly soon’

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Washington is not negotiating with Iran, adding that “something one way or the other” will happen “fairly soon.”

“No, I think we’re not negotiating,” Trump told reporters upon returning from a rally in South Carolina. “We are going to have something one way or the other that’ll happen fairly soon.”

“Most people seem to think it’s after the election, and we’re going to see what happens,” he added.

Earlier, during his remarks at the rally, Trump said the US could end its war with Iran now but wants to ensure that the outcome is lasting.

“It’ll end very soon. We could leave now, but we want to make sure it lasts for a long time,” he said.

He claimed the US had defeated Iran militarily and financially, adding that Tehran would “never have a nuclear weapon.”

Read: CDF Munir meets senior Iranian officials as Pakistan continues diplomatic push to end conflict

His remarks came as The New York Times reported that the US and Israeli militaries have developed plans for renewed strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections, citing US officials and others briefed on the deliberations.

The report said it is far from certain that Trump will approve the strikes, noting that he has repeatedly vetoed plans to return to major combat this year.

A White House official told the Times that the administration does not comment on military plans “that may or may not exist.”

Iran threatens to target US political assets, infrastructure if new war erupts

Iran would consider US political assets and infrastructure belonging to countries participating in a new war against it as “legitimate targets” if Iranian officials were assassinated or civilians killed, a senior Iranian security official warned on Wednesday, according to the Fars News Agency.

The Tehran-based official said Iran assumes that the US and Israel will launch another attack and considers Washington’s diplomatic gestures “unreliable.”

The official said this perception had intensified following remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Athens, which Tehran interpreted as giving a historical and civilisational justification for Washington’s war against Iran.

According to the official, Iranian political and intellectual leaders have increasingly concluded that US Middle East policy is directed by Israel, which they believe is preventing Washington from pursuing a diplomatic solution.

The official claimed that Israel takes priority in US President Donald Trump’s regional policies.

Read more: US-Iran talks continue through Pakistan, Qatar: Iranian FM

Iran already considers itself at war with the US and views Washington’s economic and naval blockade, along with restrictions on Iranian airspace, as a continuation of the military aggression that began on February 28, the official said.

He added that growing pressure from different segments of Iranian society was pushing authorities toward “decisive action” to break the blockade under what Tehran considers its right to self-defence.

According to the official, Iran has instructed various operational units that, in the event of another large-scale conflict involving the assassination of Iranian officials and the killing of civilians, it would consider US political assets and the infrastructure of countries participating in the war as “legitimate targets.”

The warning comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over the US naval blockade and restrictions on maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.