The Iranian Revolutionary Guard threatened on Monday to “open new fronts” if Israel continues what it described as “crossing red lines” in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, at a time when official Iranian media spoke of the possibility of the collapse of the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington , and the suspension of indirect communication channels between the two sides.
The Revolutionary Guard's intelligence service said in a statement carried by state television that the continuation of Israeli operations against Lebanon and Gaza means "imposing a cost on Iran's national security and on the Islamic resistance," stressing that the Islamic Republic is prepared to take "effective defensive steps and open new fronts," in addition to maintaining what it called the "equation of the Strait of Hormuz."
In a further escalation, Iranian state television reported that the chances of a ceasefire between Iran and the United States continuing are slim if Israeli attacks on Lebanon do not stop , while the Tasnim news agency reported that the Iranian negotiating delegation has stopped exchanging messages with Washington through intermediaries because of the Israeli military operations.
The agency said that Tehran considers a halt to attacks on Lebanon to be one of the essential conditions for de-escalation, stressing that “no talks will be held until Iran’s demands to stop Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza are met.”
She added that Iran and the “resistance” axis have drawn up plans that include completely closing the Strait of Hormuz and activating other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, if the escalation continues.
In the same context, the Iranian Central Military Command warned residents of northern Israel against leaving their areas in the event that Israel launches attacks on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, while the spokesman for the Iranian armed forces, Abdul-Fadl Shekarchi, confirmed that the Iranian army “will not tolerate the continuation of crimes” against Lebanon.
For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry held the United States responsible for ceasefire violations with Iran, as well as ceasefire violations committed by Israel in Lebanon, noting that “a ceasefire violation on one front is a violation on all fronts.”
In parallel with the escalation, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held separate calls with his Pakistani counterpart, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, and Chief of Staff Asim Munir, discussing regional issues and the path to a ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, according to what Araqchi announced via his Telegram channel, without disclosing further details.
These moves come at a time when Pakistan is one of the active mediators between Tehran and Washington with the aim of containing the war and reopening channels of negotiation.
These positions came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced they had ordered the army to launch raids on Beirut's southern suburbs , raising fears of a wider regional confrontation.
The escalating tensions had immediate repercussions on the markets, with oil prices jumping by more than five dollars a barrel following the publication of a report by the Tasnim news agency regarding the suspension of Iranian-American talks and the threat to close strategic sea lanes.
