Iran warns US of new weapons, targets if attacks resume

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have threatened to carry out new attacks and employ advanced weaponry should the United States resume hostilities against Iran. The conflict, now in its seventh month, has reached a deadlock, with neither nation eager to recommence full-scale warfare. A spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the political branch of Iran's armed forces, declared that Iran would "undoubtedly witness substantial modifications in our defense and counteroffensive" should the US launch a fresh assault.

He added that Iran would deploy "novel weapons with novel capabilities onto the battlefield," and that the international community would be "astonished" by these developments. The Guards also indicated readiness to engage in a "protracted war." On Saturday, Iran's central military command reportedly informed the US of its intention to initiate new operations against Tehran, although the precise nature of these plans remained undisclosed.

Although tensions have eased somewhat in recent days following a brief escalation at the end of last month, Iran remains to launch occasional assaults on merchant vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. Both Iran and the US are persistently maintaining chokeholds in the waterway to exert pressure. The war has also spilled into Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels have gained ground from the Saudi-backed government and have struck Saudi targets, including the capital Riyadh.