TEHRAN -- Iran has warned the United States that any new military aggression against the Islamic Republic would draw a forceful response against American military and economic interests, while stressing that Washington must take concrete steps before Tehran considers reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Major General Mohsen Rezaei issued the warning during a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani here on Thursday,

 saying Tehran does not trust Washington because of its repeated breaches of diplomacy and negotiations.
“We do not trust the U.S., and they have repeatedly betrayed diplomacy and negotiations,” Rezaei said.
“If the United States commits any act of evil against Iran, we will inflict such affliction on its military and economic interests that it will be recorded in history,” he warned.
Rezaei also stressed that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would depend on Washington taking practical steps to meet Iran’s conditions, as Tehran maintains that the strategic waterway cannot simply return to the situation that existed before the latest war.
The warning came as Iranian officials continued to stress that any future war would be fought under different conditions, with Tehran prepared to respond beyond the patterns of previous confrontations.
In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Manar television on Thursday night, Rezaei said any future war would be different from previous ones and that Iranian strikes would be unprecedented.
He said Beirut and the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital remain Iran’s red lines, warning that “no one has the right to move toward them.”
“We will send him to hell and we will prove that Netanyahu’s great mistakes have brought the end of the Zionist regime closer,” Rezaei said, referring to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rezaei said Tehran is following developments in Beirut and its southern suburbs with the highest sensitivity, adding that Iran regards Lebanon’s security as part of the security of the wider West Asia region.
He called for an end to wars and military operations in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria and said the Israeli regime must withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory.
Iran’s conditions for any understanding with Washington, he said, include an end to wars across West Asia, particularly in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as a halt to Israeli attacks on Damascus.
“West Asia is like a chain,” Rezaei said. “Its conditions are interconnected.”
He added that any country from which U.S. aircraft take off or U.S. missiles are launched against Iran would be treated as an enemy.
At the same time, Iranian officials have stressed that Tehran is not seeking war but remains prepared to defend its sovereignty and national interests.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said diplomacy could resume if Washington abandoned coercion and engaged with Tehran on the basis of mutual respect.
“Putting diplomacy back on track isn’t impossible. It hinges on U.S. understanding of one simple fact: pressure doesn’t work,” Araghchi said in an X post on Friday.
“The U.S. should build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments,” he added.
Araghchi made the remarks after meeting Al Thani in Tehran, where he welcomed the continued role of regional and neighboring countries in efforts to reduce tensions.
He said the current situation is the result of U.S.-Israeli military aggression as well as the continuation of U.S. interventionist and illegal actions, particularly the naval blockade and economic pressure against Iran.
The Iranian foreign minister also called for stronger trust among regional states and the establishment of indigenous security mechanisms independent of external interference.
“All countries in the region,” he said, should adhere to good-neighborliness and prevent the United States from using their territory and facilities to launch aggression or wage economic warfare against Iran.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said Iran is not seeking war or an expansion of hostilities, stressing that Tehran seeks only its legitimate rights under international law.
“The other side must recognize all the rights of the Iranian people in every field and within the framework of international law. The Islamic Republic of Iran seeks nothing beyond its legal rights,” Pezeshkian said during his meeting with Al Thani.
“War was imposed on Iran, and its continuation will be detrimental to the country, the region and the world,” he added.
Pezeshkian thanked Qatar for its mediation efforts and said Iran and Qatar remain “two friendly and brotherly countries,” while criticizing efforts in Washington and Tel Aviv to prevent agreements and the restoration of peace.
Al Thani reaffirmed Doha’s readiness to continue its diplomatic efforts and cooperation with Tehran, saying Qatar does not want the Iranian people to face difficulties while regional countries merely watch the situation.
“The language of force and threats is not a solution,” the Qatari prime minister said, calling for diplomacy, rationality and logic to restore stability, security and economic calm to the region.
On the Strait of Hormuz, Al Thani welcomed an understanding reached between Iran and Oman on maritime traffic and said the diplomatic process could contribute to restoring regional stability.
Iran, however, has continued to make clear that the future of the strategic waterway is tied to US compliance with its commitments.
Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf likewise warned that no one will be able to sell oil in a region where Iran cannot do so.
“The equation of this war is clear: either all or none!” Ghalibaf said in a post on X that he reposted on Friday. “In a region where we don’t sell oil, no one else will sell oil either.”
He said the security of the Strait of Hormuz depends on the absence of U.S. forces and warned that “the situation in the strait will not return to what it was before the war.”
Iran has also rejected the latest U.S. sanctions campaign, urging countries not to implement what it describes as Washington’s “economic terrorism.”
In a Friday statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the new U.S. sanctions announced under the title “Operation Economic Outcast,” saying Washington is abusing the dollar to pressure other countries into following its interventionist policies toward Tehran.
The ministry said the sanctions violate national sovereignty, the right to self-determination and principles of the UN Charter, and called on all countries to refrain from implementing them.
“Accordingly, all countries are obliged to refrain from implementing such sanctions,” the Foreign Ministry said.
It warned that participation in enforcing unilateral U.S. sanctions would amount to complicity in imposing one state’s unlawful will on independent states and disrupting legitimate economic and trade relations.
The ministry further described the new economic pressure as a continuation of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, saying the campaign reflects Washington’s failure to achieve its objectives through military means.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization similarly said the United States, Israel and their allies have revised their strategy toward Iran after failing to achieve their objectives through direct military confrontation.
The organization said the new approach increasingly relies on economic pressure, psychological warfare and efforts to foment unrest from within.
Its assessment said Iran has moved beyond merely preserving the state’s survival and is strengthening national resilience and strategic initiative, while retaining its asymmetric capabilities and strategic position in the region.
Iran’s Basij chief Hussein Taeb said the United States is now attempting to achieve through economic pressure what it failed to accomplish militarily.
“The enemy, after failing in the military war and despite spending heavily, is now seeking to disrupt the economy, shut down businesses, and slow down or halt production in the country,” Taeb said.
He urged producers, traders and businesses to remain active, describing production, markets and trade as part of the country’s economic resistance.
Meanwhile, Ghalibaf rejected U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s accusations that Tehran spends billions abroad while neglecting its own people, stating that Washington should instead spend its resources on Americans.
“Instead of funneling billions to its terrorist proxy, Israel, and 750 bases, this failing empire could spend that cash on its own people,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.