Iran Warns: Strike and We'll Hit Back 'Beyond the Region'

Iran's elite military force has threatened to go wide in its response if US or Israeli attacks resume. In a statement Wednesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that any new attack would prompt retaliation "beyond the region," adding it has yet to use "all the capacities" at its disposal and that its "crushing blows will bring you to ruin in places you cannot even imagine."

"We are men of war," the force said, promising to show strength "on the battlefield ... not in hollow statements or on social media pages." CBS News reports the warning follows President Trump's comments to reporters that he was "an hour away" from ordering new strikes on Iran Monday night, before backing off after Gulf allies—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, per the New York Times—urged restraint and reiterated their hope for a diplomatic breakthrough.

That claim appears to have caught Israel's military off guard, at least according to Haaretz, which cites unnamed sources who say senior Israel Defense Forces commanders expected any renewed US action "would be closely coordinated in advance with Israel."