Iran issues fresh batch of threats as talks with US resume

“Iran is fully prepared to stand against any external threat or enemy, especially the United States and its malicious proxy, the Zionist regime,” Velayati wrote.

By World Israel News Staff

As preparations move forward for renewed U.S.–Iran nuclear talks, senior Iranian officials and regime figures have issued a steady stream of increasingly explicit threats against the United States and Israel, underscoring tensions surrounding negotiations that remain tentative and narrowly defined.

In a message sent to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem following the death of Hassan Nasrallah’s father, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, framed Iran as the backbone of a broader confrontation with Washington and Jerusalem.

“Iran, as the pillar of the resistance, is fully prepared to stand against any external threat or enemy, especially the United States and its malicious proxy, the Zionist regime,” Velayati wrote, adding that “the victory will certainly belong to the resistance front.”

The rhetoric was sharpened further by Ezzatollah Zarghami, Iran’s former broadcasting chief and a prominent conservative figure, who issued a direct warning aimed at U.S. naval forces operating in the region.

“The only thing they know how to do is play with their aircraft carriers, moving them from place to place,” Zarghami said. “I am certain the Strait of Hormuz will be their killing ground. It will be their hell.”

He asserted that Iran would prove the strait “belongs to Iran throughout history,” and claimed U.S. targets were “within our range and fully accessible.”

Zarghami argued that deterrence only works against states lacking operational capability, contrasting them with Iran’s military posture.

“Our missiles, our drones, our naval capabilities, our armed forces are professional, efficient, and ready to respond to any American move, even the smallest one,” he said, adding that the latest U.S. step “will certainly receive a response.”

The warnings were reinforced by Iran’s military leadership. A spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces said Tehran has prepared for every scenario it believes its adversaries are weighing.

“We have announced that we are ready to confront any possibility and any scenario the enemy is considering,” the spokesperson said. “If the enemy chooses the option of war, we are prepared for all possibilities under wartime conditions.”

He added that it is the U.S. president who must decide “between compromise and war,” stressing Iran’s armed forces are “ready for both options.”

The spokesperson warned that any conflict would rapidly expand beyond a limited confrontation. “If a war breaks out, its scope will include the entire geography of the region and all American bases, from Israel to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,” he said.

“Our access to American bases is easy. This has been our message repeatedly, and now we are declaring firmly that we are fully prepared to defend the country.”

At the same time, Iranian officials have publicly struck a more restrained tone regarding diplomacy. Iran’s ambassador to Egypt told Saudi channel Al-Hadath that Washington now recognizes diplomacy as the correct path forward.

He confirmed that the upcoming talks in Muscat would be indirect and strictly limited to the nuclear issue, stressing that Iran seeks to build mutual trust while preserving what he called its nuclear rights.

The negotiations had originally been planned for Istanbul, where U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were expected to meet.

Iran later requested that the discussions be moved to Oman and narrowed exclusively to the nuclear file, rejecting broader talks sought by Washington and several regional governments that would have included ballistic missiles and Iran’s regional proxy network.

“They want to change the format, they want to change the scope,” a regional diplomat familiar with Iran’s position told Axios. “They only want to discuss the nuclear file with the Americans.”

U.S. officials initially resisted the request and at one stage signaled that the meeting could be canceled altogether.

That possibility triggered urgent outreach from at least nine Middle Eastern governments to the White House, urging the Trump administration to proceed with the talks despite the constraints.

For now, negotiations remain back on track. But the parallel surge in threats from senior Iranian figures highlights how narrow and fragile the diplomatic window remains, even as both sides return to the table.