Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Tuesday rejected US claims that Tehran’s missile programme had been destroyed, warning that it would deploy next-generation weapons against Israel and US bases in the region.
The IRGC statement highlighted that it’s latest hypersonic ballistic missiles—capable of carrying a 1-tonne warhead—had not yet been used against Israel or the United States.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump, under mounting pressure, threatened to hit Iran '20 times harder' if it continued to stop oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has intensified retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israel and US bases across the Gulf, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Three more casualties were reported in Israel—one in Manama and two in central Israel—while Tehran itself suffered some of the heaviest bombardment of the war overnight, with 40 more people killed in the city’s Risalat Square.
Israel and Hezbollah have continued tit-for-tat military strikes, with Hezbollah claiming to have inflicted heavy casualties on Israeli forces in southern and northern Lebanon. The death toll in the ongoing exchanges has now crossed 486. Meanwhile, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reportedly informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iraq must not be used as a launchpad for attacks in the Middle East war.
Sudani stated that within hours of the war’s start, fighter jets and missiles from multiple directions filled Iraq’s airspace. He rejected 'any attempt to drag the country into ongoing conflicts' as well as 'violations of its airspace by any party'.
Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said any mediation 'must be in a condition where there is not just a pause under the guise of a ceasefire, but a full-fledged halt to attacks and assurance that this will not happen again.” She added, “This is an issue seriously demanded by our people today and they need this assurance. We did not start the war, but we will finish it.”
Furthermore, Iran has launched its latest wave of attacks, targeting Israeli oil refinery facilities in Haifa and other energy infrastructure as part of sustained operations against strategic assets.
Also read: Iran will decide war’s end: IRGC to Trump
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