The Tectonic

🇮🇷 Iran's top security official has warned countries that host US forces that their bases will be treated as targets if American aircraft use them to attack Iran. "We will consider any location from which American aircraft take off to be a threat to us. We are making this clear now so that they will have no excuses tomorrow," Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said in an interview with the Beirut-based channel Al Mayadeen published on Wednesday, according to Al Manar's Arabic text. He advised every country hosting US bases not to cooperate with any American attack on Iran. He looked beyond the Gulf. "If the Americans make a mistake and attack us, we will not limit ourselves to nearby bases," he said, according to Iran International. "We may even target some American military bases in European countries." He also spoke of "some islands they think our missiles cannot reach." Reuters quoted him as saying: "Any new US attacks will also be met with targeting US bases far away." He named no specific base or country. Rezaei, who commanded the Revolutionary Guards from 1981 to 1997, became council secretary in August. He replaced Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who had taken the post after Ali Larijani was killed in US-Israeli strikes in March. ⚠️ In the same interview Rezaei said there are no negotiations with Washington at present, called reports of a planned meeting with Vice President JD Vance "lies," and said the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until the US accepts Iran's seven conditions, according to Iran International and Radio Farda. He also said Iran will not allow any of its enriched nuclear material to leave the country, Reuters reported. The warning comes as Washington lowers its tone. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that renewed US strikes were "highly unlikely," and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said economic pressure on Tehran was working. Qatar says its mediation continues. On Monday at least 10 US KC-135 tankers left RAF Mildenhall in England, a move the Wall Street Journal linked to a threat from Iran; Britain says its bases are safe. On Tuesday the IRGC showed footage of an underground "missile city," and Bloomberg reported a Western estimate that Iran can still build about 50 ballistic missiles a month. Whether Iran can reach Europe is uncertain. Iran International, citing CSIS, notes that Iran's main ballistic missiles have ranges of about 2,000 km, with some variants perhaps reaching 3,000. What to watch: responses from host governments in the Gulf and Europe and from the Pentagon, the Qatari mediation and Iran's seven conditions, and further force protection moves at US bases in Britain and elsewhere. 📹 @sentdefender