Iran's army has warned that any fresh United States attack will be answered immediately, effectively and without any geographical limit, with American bases and interests far beyond the Middle East said to be within range of Iranian missiles and drones. The warning was delivered on Friday by Iranian Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, according to Iran's ISNA news agency, and was reported internationally by Anadolu Agency and AFP-citing outlets on Saturday.

Source: ISNA via Anadolu Agency

Akraminia said the possibility of renewed US military action could not be ruled out even after reports that American naval vessels had withdrawn from the region, suggesting Washington might resort to another offensive amid its domestic political challenges. He said Iranian forces remain on full alert and prepared to defend the country's territory and national interests.

Source: Anadolu Agency

What the army spokesperson said

Citing directives from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Akraminia said Iran's armed forces had been instructed to ensure that any retaliation would be immediate, effective and not limited by geographical boundaries. US military bases and interests beyond West Asia and the Persian Gulf were within the operational range of Iran's missiles and drones and could become targets if Washington launched another offensive, he warned.

Source: AFP via Fact.net

Akraminia also said Iran's armed forces were now stronger and better prepared than when the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, having gained experience from direct confrontations with the United States and Israel. He named no specific target, timing or operation, and the warning was presented as deterrence against a future attack rather than notice of an imminent Iranian strike.

Hormuz stays shut until Iran's conditions are met

The spokesperson maintained that the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway for international oil shipments, remains under Iran's control and will not reopen until Tehran's conditions are met. He repeated that Hormuz would reopen only if the United States accepted Iran's seven conditions, which Iranian officials have linked in earlier statements to sanctions relief, the return of frozen assets and compensation for war damage — demands Washington has not accepted.

The warning follows a week of movement on both tracks of the crisis. The United States carried out limited strikes on Iranian air defences around Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on November 6, which President Donald Trump described as minor, while Qatar pressed a bridge proposal to end the eight-month-old war. A separate queue item from this desk covers Qatar's prime minister urging a good, not perfect, US-Iran agreement.

Source: Reuters via Al Jazeera

The Qeshm strikes and Trump's comments were covered earlier by Awaaz Punjab. Read the Qeshm Island strike report

Background: a war that began on February 28

The United States and Israel launched their military offensive against Iran on February 28. A ceasefire was reached in April and a memorandum aimed at concluding a peace agreement was signed in June, according to Anadolu's account, but the parties have yet to reach a final settlement. Talks through Qatari and other mediators remain divided over sanctions, Iran's nuclear programme and shipping through Hormuz.

Why Gulf workers and oil markets are watching

For the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers who live across the Gulf, a wider Iranian retaliation that reached beyond the region — or a renewed US offensive — would raise direct questions about base-adjacent cities, air routes, remittances and jobs. Oil markets are already pricing the risk: Brent crude settled at $98.32 a barrel on Friday after its steepest weekly fall since 2020, as tanker attacks in the Gulf kept a floor under prices even as post-midterm hopes of de-escalation pulled the market down on the week.

What happens next

No new US strike had been announced when Akraminia spoke, and no Iranian retaliation followed the warning itself. What happens next depends on decisions in Washington — where reports say President Trump is weighing whether to resume major strikes — and on whether Qatar-mediated exchanges can turn the current proposals into an agreement before either side tests the other's warning.