Iran's army says it is ready to strike first if threatened
The statement follows weeks of rising US-Iran tension, including a bomber evacuation and strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Iran's army said it will launch a preemptive strike if it judges one necessary, the clearest statement yet from Tehran's military that it is prepared to move first rather than wait to be hit.
The statement follows a run of moves by both sides that have narrowed room for a negotiated path. Trump has said Iran still has to be "finished off" and that its drone-making capacity is "soon to be gone." Rubio has repeated that Iran must not be allowed a nuclear program, with no new steps announced. Vance has said Tehran cannot claim it does not want a nuclear weapon while it enriches uranium to 60 per cent, without setting a timeline or mechanism for stopping it.
On the ground, the US evacuated 12 B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford on Oct 5 over an attack threat, after British authorities arrested dual British-Iranian citizens suspected of planning one. Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen under pressure, and tanker traffic through the strait is running near two vessels a day, against a pre-conflict average of 125.
Iran's army framing a preemptive strike as a live option moves the conflict beyond the sequencing disputes over sanctions and enrichment that have dominated this cycle, and lines up with the shift toward physical action already seen in seven vessel strikes near Hormuz since late September. With transit through the strait still near a standstill, a stated Iranian willingness to strike first adds to the Hormuz-linked risk premium already built into crude oil prices.