- Tehran says US bases and aircraft carriers are within missile range.
- He claims that American bases can become “legitimate targets” in the event of an American attack.
- The military warns that Iran’s response to the US action will not be limited.
PARIS: Iran threatened on Thursday to immediately strike US bases and aircraft carriers in response to any attack, after US President Donald Trump warned that time was running out for Tehran and the EU placed its Revolutionary Guards on the blacklist of terrorist groups.
As Brussels and Washington step up their own rhetoric and Iran issues harsh threats, UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for nuclear negotiations to “avoid a crisis that could have devastating consequences in the region.”
An Iranian military spokesman warned that Tehran’s response to any US action would not be limited – as was the case in June last year when US planes and missiles briefly joined Israel’s short-lived air war against Iran – but would be a decisive response “delivered instantly”.
Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia told state television that US aircraft carriers had “serious vulnerabilities” and that many US bases in the Gulf region were “within range of our medium-range missiles”.
“If the Americans make such a miscalculation, it certainly won’t play out the way Trump imagines: conducting a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over,” he said.
An official in the Gulf, where states host US military sites, told AFP that fears of a US strike on Iran were “very clear”.
“It would throw the region into chaos, harm the economy of not only the region but also the United States, and send oil and gas prices skyrocketing,” the official added.
Protests in Iran
Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held a telephone conversation to discuss “efforts to defuse tensions and establish stability”, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The European Union, for its part, increased the pressure by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organization” following the deadly repression of recent mass protests.
“’Terrorist’ is indeed what we call a regime which bloodily crushes the demonstrations of its own people,” declared the head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming this “late” decision.
Although largely symbolic, the EU decision has already prompted a warning from Tehran.
The Iranian military denounced the European Union’s “illogical, irresponsible and rancor-driven action”, alleging that the bloc was acting out of “obedience” to Tehran’s sworn enemies – the United States and Israel.
Iranian officials have blamed the recent wave of protests on both countries, saying their agents had instigated “riots” and a “terrorist operation” hijacking peaceful rallies sparked by economic demands.
Trump had threatened military action if protesters were killed during anti-government protests that erupted in late December and peaked on January 8-9.
But his recent statements focus on Iran’s nuclear program, which the West believes aims to build an atomic bomb.
On Wednesday, he said “time is running out” for Tehran to reach a deal, warning that a U.S. naval strike group that arrived in Mideast waters on Monday was “ready, willing and able” to strike Iran.
Conflicting tolls
Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands of people were killed during the protests, a death toll of more than 3,000, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters”.
Billboards and banners were deployed in the capital Tehran to reinforce the authorities’ messages. A massive poster appears to show a US aircraft carrier being destroyed.
