Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Wednesday that any renewed US attack would trigger a war that “will extend beyond the region this time” — the sharpest escalation language from Tehran since the April ceasefire — after Donald Trump said he had come within an hour of restarting the military campaign.
“If aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will extend beyond the region this time,” the IRGC said in a statement carried on state media, signalling that strikes would not be confined to US bases in Middle Eastern countries as previously threatened.
The IRGC threat came after Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday: “I was an hour away from making the decision to go today.” On Monday and again on Tuesday he said he had put off a bombing decision at the last minute to give diplomacy more room. Iran has submitted a fresh offer this week that Trump’s team has publicly described as a repackaging of previously rejected terms — including control of the Strait of Hormuz, war-damage compensation, sanctions relief, release of frozen assets and US troop withdrawal.
Pakistan’s interior minister arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, continuing Islamabad’s role as the only mediator that has hosted a formal round of talks.
In a parallel signal, two large Chinese tankers carrying around 4 million barrels of crude exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday — operating under terms Iran said it agreed to ease for Chinese shipping while Trump was in Beijing last week. South Korea’s foreign minister confirmed a Korean tanker was also transiting in cooperation with Iran. Shipping monitor Lloyd’s List said at least 54 ships crossed the strait last week, roughly double the prior week, though still a fraction of the 140-per-day pre-war norm.
Brent crude eased about 2.75% Wednesday morning to near $108 a barrel, with Reuters citing Fujitomi Securities analyst Toshitaka Tazawa as saying investors are gauging “whether Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground.”
The latest tensions cap a week of drone strikes — Saudi Arabia, the UAE and now Jordan have all reported intercepting projectiles attributed to Iran-aligned militias in Iraq — even as the ceasefire has mostly held since early April. Gulf officials, meanwhile, told the Wall Street Journal they had no knowledge of any imminent US strike Trump said they had urged him to pause.
Source: Ada Derana / Reuters.
