Iran Warns It May Target U.S. Military Bases Across Europe

Iran has issued a sweeping warning to the United States: if American forces use bases outside the Middle East to launch strikes on Iranian territory, Tehran says those facilities could become targets as well — including installations in Europe.

Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s security chief, delivered the threat in an interview broadcast today by Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV. “If American aircraft take off from an American military base, even one located in a European country or some other distant region, to bomb Iran, we will strike those bases as well,” Mr Rezaei said.

He said any renewed US assault would prompt Iran to expand its response to what he called “America’s more distant military installations – including the ones we have not yet attacked,” though he did not identify specific locations.

“We may even strike certain islands that they assume are beyond the reach of our missiles,” he added. The interview was conducted in Tehran.

The Middle East war began on 28 February, when US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at countries across the region, and militant groups backed by Tehran in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq also joined the fight.

Even as the conflict has widened, Qatar and Pakistan have been leading diplomatic efforts aimed at negotiating an end to the war.

Tehran has insisted Washington agree to a package of demands — including unfreezing Iranian assets and lifting sanctions — in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial energy corridor that Iran has blockaded since the conflict began.

The US and Israel have repeatedly pointed to Iran’s nuclear programme as part of their rationale for the war. But Mr Rezaei said the nuclear issue was “not currently” part of the talks, and he outlined what he described as firm Iranian red lines, including that Iran would “not send even a tiny amount of the enriched material outside Iran”.

Iran’s nuclear programme — and its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60%, near the 90% level needed for an atomic bomb — has fuelled tensions for years.

Yesterday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was no need to attack Iran again, pointing instead to what he described as successful efforts to weaken Iran’s economy.

Washington has appeared to scale back recent warnings of fresh strikes after President Donald Trump’s Republican party lost in recent midterm elections, a setback attributed in part to the war’s unpopularity.

Trump defends Iran war in Veterans Day address

US President Donald Trump salutes during a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery

President Donald Trump used a Veterans Day event today to argue that the war is justified and nearing an end.

“The bravery and skill of our amazing American warriors has absolutely been incredible,” Mr Trump said in remarks at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington.

“When this conflict is over, and it will be soon, the entire world will be a much safer and better place, more peaceful place, and a place without the kind of danger that we had to suffer.”

The war has killed 23 US service members and wounded several hundred more, according to the latest Pentagon figures.

Mr Trump said the conflict was not initiated by Washington, arguing instead that Tehran “has been waging war on America since 1979.”

He said US forces were acting to stop Iran from gaining the ability to build a nuclear weapon.

Speaking to troops, veterans and senior officials from his administration, Mr Trump singled out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — who attended the ceremony — saying he had “done a fantastic job.”

Republicans in the US House of Representatives yesterday blocked an effort, introduced by an outgoing Republican lawmaker, to impeach Mr Hegseth over allegations that he waged war without congressional authorization and abused his authority as Pentagon chief.

Mr Trump, 80, also took part in a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a revered site honouring US service members whose remains were never identified.

In his comments, he returned to his plan for a 250-foot-tall (76 metres) triumphal arch to be built just outside the cemetery, saying it would be dedicated “soon.”

Yesterday, the family of John F Kennedy asked a court to halt construction, saying the large structure would obstruct views and cast shadows over the gravesites of the slain president and other Kennedy family members buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The proposed project is also facing lawsuits filed by a group of veterans, the city of Washington and the state of Virginia.

Cruise missiles fired at Riyadh

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis said it intercepted three cruise missiles fired toward Riyadh, which has been under weeks of attacks blamed on the Iran-backed group.

“Air defenses intercepted and destroyed 3 cruise missiles launched by the Houthi terrorist militia toward the Riyadh area,” coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a post on X.

The interception was reported days after the Houthis damaged a skyscraper owned by oil giant Saudi Aramco in the capital’s financial district on Sunday.

Riyadh’s international airport has also come under repeated attack, with deadly strikes forcing it to shut down for two weeks last month.

Saudi Arabia formed an international coalition in 2015 to fight the Houthis after the group seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

After years of a fragile truce, the conflict flared again in July.