TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has ordered the country’s armed forces to respond at once, and without geographic limits, to any new attack by the United States or Israel, his office said on Saturday, as fears grow that the war could restart after Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections.
In a statement carried by Iran’s IRNA news agency, Khamenei told senior military commanders that any kind and level of threat should face an immediate and strong response. He ordered commanders to update Iran’s target list to include all types of tangible and intangible assets belonging to what he called the American-Zionist enemy, according to reports of the statement. He also said that if attacks resume, Iran, not its enemies, will decide when and on what terms the fighting ends.
It was the first reported meeting between Khamenei and the top military brass since he took the role in March, after his father, Ali Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989, was killed in the first U.S. and Israeli strikes of the war on February 28. Iran’s army issued its own warning on Saturday that any new U.S. attack would spread the war wider.
In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump has not made a decision on new strikes. Speaking at a news conference in Atlanta on Saturday, Rubio said the United States can achieve military objectives if it seeks to, but the president has not decided, and he added that if Trump had wanted to act that way, he would have done so weeks or months ago, according to reports of his remarks. Rubio said talks through mediators, including Qatar, have never stopped, and that Washington remains open to a deal that protects U.S. security and deals with the core issues behind the conflict.
The two statements land at a tense moment. U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have been paused since September 1, but Trump has stepped up his threats in recent weeks. On October 8 he said there would be no new attacks before the November 3 midterms. At a rally in Texas last week he told the crowd they would see Iran in a couple of weeks, and in a television interview he said he was deciding whether to make a deal with Iran or finish it off. Two U.S. officials told CNN last week that U.S. forces in the Middle East are ready to start new operations within 96 hours of an order from the president.
Iran has ruled out direct talks with the United States for now. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there are currently no plans for meetings with American officials. Separately, senior security official Mohsen Rezaei said Iran is debating whether to keep its long-standing ban on nuclear weapons if fighting resumes. That is a debate, not a decision: no change of policy has been announced, and Iran’s official position still bars nuclear weapons.
Why this matters beyond the region is simple. The war that began on February 28 has already hit fuel prices and shipping. Iran has previously warned it could consider cutting undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries a large share of the world’s oil and gas. A new round of strikes, and an Iranian response with no stated geographic limit, would raise the risk for ships, bases and cities across the Middle East.
What happens next turns on the days after Tuesday’s vote. European officials at the G20 meeting in Atlanta urged both sides not to escalate, according to reports from the meeting. For the full exchange of statements, see the AFP-based report on Iran’s warning and Rubio’s remarks.
