Iran's Supreme Leader warns war expands if U.S. strikes resume
Ayatollah Mojtaba Jamenei states renewed attacks will widen the conflict as Republicans lose midterms and Qeshm Island faces limited strikes.
By Martin Reynolds ·
Iran’s Supreme Leader warned that the Middle East conflict will expand if the United States resumes military attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Jamenei issued the warning in a written message on his official website. He stated that if U.S. aggression repeats itself, the war will have a much larger scope.
The threat follows limited U.S. strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the early hours of Tuesday. These actions occurred just before the U.S. midterm elections, where President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered a decisive defeat.
President Trump had declared over the weekend that he was ready to deliver a crushing blow to Tehran. Various media outlets in recent days had suggested a short and intense military campaign might follow the election results.
Jamenei dismissed the idea that the U.S. approach to Iran would change significantly. He told followers on his social media account that those hoping for a shift in behavior or partisan turns within the dominant system are deeply wrong. He added that making concessions to the U.S. will not deter its hostility toward Iran.
The ayatollah has not appeared in public since taking power in March. His predecessor, his father, died during the initial attacks of the war in February.
In the United States, Vice President JD Vance attributed the Republican loss in the midterm elections to the war with Iran. He posted on X that the war was the reason the party lost. Regional allies of the U.S. are urging Washington to avoid restarting a conflict that began more than eight months ago and has shaken the global economy.
