Iran has warned that the ‘gates of hell will open more and more’ on the US and Israel as it vows to unleash more attacks.
Ali Mohammad Naini, a spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told Iranian state TV on the fourth day of the roiling Middle East war: ‘The enemy must await continuous punitive attacks; the gates of hell will open more and more, moment by moment, upon the United States and Israel.’
The war, which began on Saturday after the US and Israel conducted deadly airstrikes on Iran, has rapidly engulfed the whole region.
These strikes, which have so far killed hundreds in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, are expected to carry on for up to five weeks but, according to US president Donald Trump, could go on for ‘far longer’.
Iran’s retaliation has seen it target nearby Western military bases, including a British RAF base in Cyprus on Sunday. It has also lashed out at its Gulf neighbours, threatening to send the whole region into an inescapable spiral.
The pariah nation also threatened to ‘burn every ship’ passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint in global fuel routes, further sending oil and gas prices soaring.
It also warned Europe not to get involved in the ongoing conflict, after Britain, France and Germany indicated they may take ‘defensive action’ to protect their Middle East interests.
Further escalating tensions, Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon and carried out additional strikes on key Iranian targets, including the nation’s presidential office and the National Security Council building.
‘The Israeli Air Force… struck and dismantled facilities within the leadership compound of the Iranian terrorist regime in the heart of Tehran’ overnight, the military said.
‘During the strike on the compound, numerous munitions were dropped on the presidential office and the building of the Supreme National Security Council,’ it added.
On top of this, Israel declared it had deployed troops to multiple locations in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said the move amounted to a ‘forward defence’ measure along the border instead of a ground operation.
‘We have positioned soldiers on the border area in additional points to defend our civilians, to prevent Hezbollah from attacking them,’ military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists in a separate briefing.
‘This is not a ground operation. This is a tactical measure… to ensure the safety of our people,’ he added.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement he had authorised the military to advance and take control of additional positions in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel late on Sunday, in reaction to U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran.
Israeli forces have occupied five positions in southern Lebanon since November 2024.
In response, the Lebanese army has redeployed soldiers from several border positions following what is described as the Israeli army’s ‘escalation’, a military source told AFP.
The troops ‘numbering in total eight to nine soldiers at each point, were redeployed to their bases because of the danger to their safety’, the Lebanese military said.
The move comes after Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said he had authorised his military to ‘take control of additional strategic positions in Lebanon’.
The Israeli military said the move amounted to a ‘forward defence’ measure along the border instead of a ground operation.
Iran stepped up threats to international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with a senior Revolutionary Guards commander warning Tehran would ‘burn every ship’ attempting to pass and drive oil prices to $200 a barrel.
Brigadier General Jabbari, an adviser to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, made the remarks on state television on Monday, declaring the vital waterway effectively closed.
‘The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Anyone who wants to pass, our devotee heroes in the IRGC navy and the army will set those ships on fire,’ he said. ‘Don’t come to this region.’
In a separate message posted on the Guards’ Telegram channel, Jabbari warned: ‘We will also attack oil pipelines and will not allow a single drop of oil to leave the region.
‘Oil price will reach $200 in the coming days.’
The rhetoric from Tehran has echoed across global energy markets, with traders weighing the risk that Iran could seek to disrupt traffic through one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.
It comes as debris from a drone interception caused a fire to break out at an oil zone in the United Arab Emirates today.
Authorities said the blaze at Fujairah was contained and there are no reports of injuries.
‘Relevant authorities in the Emirate of Fujairah responded to a fire that broke out this morning in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ), resulting from falling debris following the successful interception of a drone by air defence systems,’ the Fujairah Media Office said.
‘No injuries were reported, the fire was brought under control, and normal operations in the area have resumed.’
Fujairah hosts the region’s largest commercial storage capacity for refined oil products and is considered the Middle East’s leading oil trading hub.
European stock markets slid further at the start of trading today and the region’s natural gas prices soared again in response of the Iran war.
Frankfurt’s DAX index of top German companies shed 2.0 per cent, the Paris CAC 40 lost 1.8 per cent and London’s FTSE 100 retreated by 1.4 per cent in value.
The Dutch TTF natural gas contract, considered the European benchmark, shot up more than 33 per cent having rocketed almost 40 per cent on Monday after Qatar halted liquefied natural gas production following Iranian attacks on state processing facilities.
Despite the attack on European interests, Iran warned European countries against joining its conflict with Israel and the United States, describing it as an ‘act of war’.
Germany, Britain and France have all indicated they could take ‘defensive action’ to destroy Iran’s missile-launching capabilities and protect their interests in the Middle East.
When asked at a press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said: ‘It would be an act of war. Any such act against Iran would be regarded as complicity with the aggressors.
‘It would be regarded as an act of war against Iran.’
The Iranian Red Crescent said more than US and Israeli strikes on Iran have so far killed 780 people have been killed nationwide.
‘According to field reports from operational teams, unfortunately, 787 compatriots have been martyred in these attacks,’ the Red Crescent said on its website.
It said strikes since Saturday had hit 153 cities and more than 500 locations across Iran in more than 1,000 attacks.
The strikes have also hit Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment plant, which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said was now damaged.
The UN agency previously said there were no indications Iran’s nuclear sites had been struck but said new satellite images showed ‘recent damage to entrance buildings’.
Iran has so far said it will not negotiate on its nuclear enrichment programme with the US with Donald Trump repeatedly insisting the country must not be capable of producing a nuclear weapon.
Amid Iran’s retaliatory military campaign across the Gulf, Qatar said today it had thwarted attacks on Hamad International Airport.
A spokesperson for the Gulf state’s foreign ministry said: ‘There were attempts to attack Hamad International Airport, they were all thwarted… the missiles were downed by our defensive measures, and none of them have reached the airport.’
They added that Qatar had not been in contact with Iran since the start of the strikes.
