In a statement broadcast on state television on 18/7, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei stated that continuous attacks on his country "once again prove to everyone that the signature of the US president has no value".
"The US seeks to provoke war and must bear the most severe consequences. They should know that Iran and the Axis of Resistance are ready to teach them unforgettable lessons," he said, referring to the armed groups supported by Tehran in the region.
Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military advisor to Khamenei, also warned that Tehran would restart "full-scale offensive operations" if the US continued its airstrikes in the coming days.
"Iran will no longer limit itself to tit-for-tat retaliatory responses," Rezaei said.
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Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, in 10/2024. *Photo: AFP*
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that the US had "violated the memorandum and stopped all its commitments", declaring that Tehran had also ceased to comply with the agreement.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, issued a direct warning to US forces on the same day, reiterating the Supreme Leader's threats.
"If US troops truly understood the meaning of the 'unforgettable lessons' our Supreme Leader spoke of, they would flee immediately," Azizi wrote on social media.
The US and Iran signed a temporary ceasefire agreement in mid-June, bringing three weeks of peace to the Persian Gulf. However, tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz have led to a resumption of hostilities in recent days.
Tensions escalated following Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping lane for the Persian Gulf's energy exports that Tehran seeks to control. The US reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports and conducted airstrikes in response.
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Location of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. *Graphic: Guardian*
US Central Command (CENTCOM), the unit responsible for US military operations in the Middle East, reported that its forces conducted the 8th consecutive night of airstrikes on Iran on 18/7. This action aims to weaken the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) ability to threaten maritime operations in the Strait of Hormuz and to punish them for an attack in Jordan that killed two US soldiers.
Iranian news agencies Fars and Tasnim simultaneously reported on US attacks in Sirik, a port situated on the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. Loud explosions were also heard in the southern port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh.
Iran's Health Ministry reported on 17/7 that 50 people had been killed and over 500 others injured since the fighting resumed.
Thanh Tam (According to AFP, Al Jazeera)
