As US-Iran peace negotiations remain deadlocked and fresh exchanges of fire rattle a fragile ceasefire, a prominent American military voice has issued a blunt ultimatum, warning that Washington's patience has limits and its arsenal does not.
Former USS Cole Commanding Officer Kirk Lippold warned on Thursday that the United States is prepared for a "very robust response" if Iran refuses to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
"The United States is LOCKED and LOADED," Lippold said, in remarks that underscored the hardening tone from the American side as diplomatic efforts stall.
Lippold signalled that military options remain firmly on the table.
The warning lands at a particularly volatile moment. Earlier in the day, Iran and the US traded fresh strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, with the IRGC targeting a US airbase in retaliation for what it called American aggression near Bandar Abbas Airport.
ALSO READ: US-Iran Tensions: Tehran Targets US Airbase In Retaliation; Kuwait Faces Missile, Drone Attack
Kuwait's military simultaneously reported intercepting hostile missiles and drones — signalling a dangerous geographic spread of hostilities across the Gulf.
The military posturing from Washington comes even as Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his own pointed message on Thursday, warning that the enemy's strategy had shifted from battlefield confrontation to internal subversion.
"The enemy's plan and scheme, following the imposed war, economic pressures, and the advertising and political siege, is to create division and social disintegration in order to compensate for the defeats in the military field and to bring the nation to its knees," Khamenei said.
ALSO READ: US To Exit Persian Gulf, End Hormuz Blockade Under Draft MoU, Iran State TV Reports
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