Iran: military claims enhanced capabilities amid US tensions

Despite intensified diplomatic efforts aimed at avoiding escalation, President Donald Trump continues to threaten new strikes on Iranian territory.

“The armed forces of the Islamic Republic are today at a higher level of alert and more powerful than before,” military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia stated, according to the Irna news agency. He specified that “on the orders of the Supreme Leader, any response from the armed forces will be immediate, effective, and without geographical limits.”

Explosions were reported Friday night into Saturday on Qeshm Island, according to Iranian state television, while the Tasnim agency reported that two missiles struck the strategic island located in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian military subsequently claimed to have destroyed an American military drone in the same area.

This island had previously been targeted by limited strikes at the beginning of the week, just before the American midterm elections, which penalized the Republican party.

Donald Trump acknowledged that the situation in the Middle East, which has led to a surge in energy prices since February, contributed to the Democratic victory, while insisting on the need to control Iran’s nuclear program: “We cannot let Iran have the nuclear weapon.”

The U.S. Department of Defense announced a $20 million reward for any information regarding Iran’s nuclear program, along with a possible relocation.

Téhéran denies possessing military nuclear ambitions and defends its right to the civil development of atomic energy.

Diplomatic negotiations, under the auspices of Qatar, have intensified following a series of US-Israeli threats. Donald Trump had a conversation with the Emir of Qatar, while the Iranian foreign minister has multiplied contacts with his Gulf counterparts.

A major issue in these discussions concerns the control of the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran regularly claims that ships are destroyed by mines. The military spokesman reiterated that the clearance of this strategic passage for hydrocarbon trade would depend on the acceptance of Iranian conditions: a regional ceasefire, the thawing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of oil sanctions, and the end of the American naval blockade.

The Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned that the conflict in the Middle East could spread if the United States resumed its strikes against Iran, while estimating that those who anticipate a change in American policy are “gravely mistaken.”