Iran Readies Wider Retaliation if US Strikes Again, Officials Tell Reuters

Iran is preparing a wider and more forceful response should the United States resume large-scale attacks, including possible targets beyond the Middle East, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing three senior Iranian officials and an insider familiar with the discussions.

According to the report, senior commanders are reviewing options to extend potential targets from US-linked assets to countries that back US military operations. The sources stressed that no final decision has been made.

Two of the officials told Reuters that allied groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq had been told to be ready for a coordinated response stretching "from the Strait of Hormuz to US interests in the region and outside the Middle East."

Iran's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Diplomacy kept alive

The planning runs in parallel with Tehran's diplomatic outreach. President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Iran "has never avoided" dialogue with the United States, even though it had been attacked three times during negotiations, Al Jazeera reported, citing his remarks to business leaders carried by the Tasnim news agency.

At the UN General Assembly last week, Iran passed Washington a proposal through Qatari mediators that it says could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt hostilities within seven days. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected it, although Iranian state media reported that a US response arrived via Qatar on Tuesday and is under review, Reuters said.

Iranian sources told the agency that Washington wants Iran's nuclear programme on the agenda, while Tehran says nuclear talks can only begin once its seven conditions are met.

"Even if Iran does not reject the US response outright and indirect talks continue, it is very unlikely that the two sides will reach an agreement," one of the officials said.

Analysts see escalation risk

Hamidreza Azizi of the International Crisis Group said Iranian leaders appeared unsure whether Trump would launch a major new campaign or limited strikes. "But they seem determined not to respond symbolically to a symbolic move and instead to escalate in the hope of reestablishing deterrence," he told Reuters.

The report also pointed to economic strain: an insider close to decision-making said the combination of military pressure and a US blockade that has cut Iran's oil exports was becoming increasingly difficult for the leadership to sustain.

The war began with US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. An April 8 ceasefire ended 40 days of full-scale fighting, but hostilities have continued intermittently since.