Iran threatens wider war if US strikes persist: ‘No political border’ will be safe

International Iran threatens wider war if US strikes persist: ‘No political border’ will be safe Comments: by Sophie Brams - 07/18/26 10:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Sophie Brams - 07/18/26 10:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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A senior Iranian adviser threatened on Friday to launch a wider war in the Middle East following days of intense fighting, warning that “full-scale offensive operations” could resume if U.S. military strikes do not cease.

“Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses…and no political border will be safe,” Major-General Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said, according to several outlets, citing Iranian news agency IRIB.

U.S. forces launched a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Friday, hitting bridges around Bandar Abbas, a port city in the Persian Gulf where the Iranian Navy is headquartered.

The fresh wave of strikes, which ended around 9:30 p.m. EDT, also targeted surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities, according to U.S. Central Command (Centcom).

“CENTCOM continues to hold Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction while fully enforcing a naval blockade against Iranian ports,” the military command posted on social platform X, adding that more than 50,000 U.S. servicemembers in the region remained “vigilant, lethal, and ready.”

Images released by Iranian state media showed what appeared to be the collapse of one of five bridges reportedly struck by the U.S. around Bandar Abbas.

The Tasnim News Agency, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), also reported that explosions were heard in Sirik and Qeshm Island, two cities in southern Iran located near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes targeting U.S. facilities in neighboring Gulf countries, including Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Iran’s military said in a statement carried by Tasnim on Saturday that naval forces had targeted a U.S. fleet fuel support pier at Kuwait’s Mina Al Ahmadi Port and a communications center inside the country, as well as the Sheikh Isa air base and an intelligence data center in southern Bahrain.

Reports also indicated that Jordanian air defenses intercepted and downed 10 Iranian missiles that entered the country’s airspace early Saturday. No casualties or damage were reported.

However, CBS News reported on Friday that several U.S. troops had been injured in Iranian attacks on at least two military bases in Jordan earlier in the week. The Pentagon has not confirmed the claim.

The latest tit-for-tat came days after President Trump declared the 60-day ceasefire, which began only a month ago, was officially “over,” and said he was no longer interested in negotiating with Iran.

“They want to make a deal, but every time they make a deal, they break it,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

Iran has also accused the U.S. of violating conditions of the memorandum of understanding, with Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi saying on Saturday that Tehran has suspended its commitments under the agreement due to the U.S.’s “aggressive actions.”

“The United States has effectively trampled all of its commitments and suspended them,” Gharibabadi said in comments highlighted by Iran International. “We have also suspended our commitments under the Islamabad memorandum of understanding and are not implementing them.”