Iran has warned that it will target infrastructure across the region if the United States carries out attacks on the Islamic Republic's civilian infrastructure, even as Pakistan said it will continue diplomatic efforts to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table under last month's memorandum of understanding.
According to Press TV, Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters issued the warning after US President Donald Trump threatened to widen military strikes against Iran next week to include civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges.
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"If the recent empty threats by the US president to have the American military target the infrastructure of the Islamic Republic are carried out, then everything that, due to Iran's restraint, has so far remained intact, that is, all infrastructure throughout the region, will be smashed under the iron blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic," spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari said.
He added that Iran would not allow the US to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the strategic waterway the country's inviolable red line.
"What is being carried out by Iran's armed forces is not an equivalent strike; it is a superior strike. The strikes will be more intense, extensive, and destructive than ever before," Zolfaqari said, according to Press TV.
Meanwhile, Pakistan reiterated its role as a mediator between Washington and Tehran.
According to Al Jazeera, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it would continue encouraging both sides to halt hostilities and resume negotiations despite growing challenges.
"While the implementation of the MoU is facing challenges, Pakistan will continue to encourage all sides to end violence and resume technical-level talks," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad.
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Pakistan has played a central mediating role since the conflict began on Feb. 28. It hosted direct talks between US and Iranian officials in April, the first such meeting in four decades, and later helped facilitate an interim agreement signed in June by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, US President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The agreement was subsequently discussed at the Burgenstock summit in Switzerland, Al Jazeera reported.
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