File image.
The Iranian military warned on May 19 that it will “open new fronts” against the United States if war resumes, after President Donald Trump said he had held off launching a large-scale offensive in hopes of striking a deal.
“If the enemy is foolish enough to fall into the Zionist trap again and launches new aggression against our beloved Iran, we will open new fronts against it, with new equipment and new methods,” said military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
The spokesman also confirmed that Iran has been treating the period of ceasefire with the U.S. as wartime and using it to strengthen its combat capabilities.
“The Islamic Republic’s army has treated the ceasefire period as a time of war and used the opportunity to strengthen its combat power,” he said.
A report published by The New York Times on the same day revealed Iran has been repositioning its ballistic missile launchers.
According to the report, which cites a U.S. military official, since a ceasefire went into effect on April 8, the Islamic Republic has worked to “dig out scores of bombed ballistic missile sites, move mobile missile launchers, and, despite significant losses, adjust its tactics for any resumption of strikes.”
The official said that U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s missile capabilities bombed the portals of the sites, but not the launchers themselves since they were buried in deep underground caves to protect them from attacks.
Overnight, Trump announced that he called off a planned military attack on Iran scheduled for the next day after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged him to hold off as “serious negotiations” were underway.
He said in a post on Truth Social that, out of respect for the three Persian Gulf leaders, he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Daniel Caine and the U.S. military not to carry out the scheduled attack. He warned, however, that the order could be reversed quickly if talks fail.
The talks, led by Pakistan, are yet to move forward, however. Despite many recent positive signs, the U.S. and Iran are yet to agree on the most basic of the issues.
A temporary agreement to give time for wider direct negotiations is likely what’s being worked on. While such a deal would offer the Trump administration a ramp off, it won’t address the root causes of the problem, and with Israel capable of attacking on its own, any understanding could easily collapse.
The latest warning by the Iranian military serves as a reminder to the U.S. that Islamic Republic didn’t play all of its cards during the last round of fighting. Iranian strikes could reach American targets beyond the Middle East, at least in theory, and in addition to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab Strait could be blockaded by the Islamic Republic’s allies in Yemen, the Houthis.
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