A top Iranian military adviser warned on Friday that Iran's armed forces will shift to a "full-scale offensive and destructive" phase if the United States continues its strikes for another two to three days.
Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV that the policy of "both war and negotiation" has ended, adding that if U.S. attacks continue, Iran's armed forces will no longer limit themselves to retaliatory strikes, and U.S. bases and forces will no longer be safe within any political borders.
Rezaei said Iran has so far exercised restraint to prevent the war from expanding into a broader regional and international crisis, accusing the United States of miscalculating by turning the war into a regional one.
He warned that if the United States continues its anti-Iran actions, the Islamic republic will deploy additional military capabilities, including ground forces, and the war's scope will expand.
He noted that even at the current stage, Iran's responses to the U.S. attacks have been "very heavy", warning that the intensity of Iranian military operations will increase in the coming days.
The United States must "wait for expanded waves of missile and drone attacks", Rezaei said, cautioning Washington against any ground operation against Iran.
The official further declared that the bilateral memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States is now effectively "dead " due to Washington's persistent violations.
He cited Israel's failure to withdraw from southern Lebanon, U.S. disregard for Iranian sovereignty with its military strikes on Iran's coastal areas, and the continued freeze on Iranian assets that had been promised for release.
The U.S. military has launched multiple waves of strikes against southern Iran over the past several days, claiming its attacks are in response to the Iranian armed forces' targeting of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and are aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping".
Iran has responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. military bases and facilities across the region.
Iran warns of full-scale offensive if US strikes continue
