TEHRAN — A senior Iranian military commander on Saturday warned Muslim countries hosting American forces that they will “burn in the fire of war” if they continue to serve as a defensive shield for the United States.
Major General Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the United States is “pursuing, with increasing speed, the path of widespread warmongering in a regional war,” describing the American approach as part of “a dangerous strategy aimed at expansion and illegitimate domination across the entire region”.
“Muslim countries should know that the United States uses their capital, wealth, vital infrastructure, and strategic resources as a defensive shield for its exhausted army,” Abdollahi said in a statement.
“Any country that makes itself a defensive shield for the criminal and aggressor United States will burn in the fire of war.”
The commander said Washington is simultaneously strengthening “the military and security apparatus of the child-killing and terrorist Zionist regime” while exploiting the resources of Muslim nations.
He said the regional balance of power has fundamentally shifted and that the United States and Israel have failed to achieve their “aggressive and illegitimate strategies” against the Islamic Republic.
The military warning came as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi renewed Tehran’s warnings to Britain against aiding U.S. military strikes on Iran.
During a telephone conversation with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Araghchi said any cooperation with “aggressors” — including under the pretext of existing defense agreements — is “unacceptable”.
Araghchi said that under international law and the United Nations Definition of Aggression resolution, allowing an aggressor party to use a country’s territory to launch an unlawful attack constitutes
an act of aggression and entitles the attacked country to resort to self-defense.
He condemned Britain’s “unjustified” approach toward Iran, citing London’s recent designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps under Britain’s State Threats legislation and Britain’s “complicity” in two previous unprovoked wars.
The warnings followed revelations that Prime Minister Andy Burnham had approved the continued use of British military bases by the United States for terrorist operations against Iran, maintaining a policy established under his predecessor, Keir Starmer. The decision allows U.S. access to bases including Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in the UK.
For his part, Miliband said Britain “is not part of the war with Iran” and emphasized the need for diplomatic engagement to resolve issues and reduce tensions.
The United States maintains a vast network of military installations throughout the region. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters and has faced heavy Iranian strikes, with Manama briefly evacuating the neighborhood hosting the fleet early in the war. Kuwait houses several American facilities including Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base.
Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base serves as the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command and is the largest U.S. base in West Asia. Iran hit Al Udeid during the current war, having first attacked it in June 2025. Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base hosts F-16, F-15 and F-35 fighter jets along with Patriot and THAAD air defense systems; Iranian attacks recently killed three U.S. service members there.
A New York Times visual analysis found that Iranian strikes on nine U.S. locations across West Asia in the two weeks since the ceasefire broke down have caused damage to living quarters, drone shelters, radar systems and other structures.
On Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei issued a pointed theological challenge to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa, who had recently claimed that “Prophet Muhammad gave Iran its spiritual, human, and intellectual depth after centuries of darkness” and suggested Iran should at least refrain from attacking Bahrain in gratitude.
Baghaei responded by questioning whether Bahrain’s hosting of U.S. forces waging military aggression against a Muslim country aligned with Islamic teachings.
“Does standing alongside forces that launched a military aggression against a Muslim country align with the Quran’s explicit prohibition on allying with oppressors or aiding aggressors?” he wrote on X.
“And does welcoming the enemies of Muslims and providing support for their military operations against a neighboring Muslim country accord with the rights of neighborliness and Islamic brotherhood?”
He cited the Quranic verse: “Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you,” stating that “no ruler has the right to use mere proficiency in the Arabic language as a pretext for claiming to represent the Muhammadan Mission.”
On Friday evening, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Muhammad Bagher Zolqadr, warned that continued U.S. warmongering would further tighten the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The continuation of the U.S. regime’s maritime blockade and warmongering will further tighten the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and also close other straits and chokepoints, and the global economy, energy markets, and American voters will pay the price,” he said.