Iran warns new war could last longer after Trump threatens strikes

Iran warned on Sunday that any renewed war with the United States could last longer than the previous round of fighting, after President Donald Trump said he still had to “ take care ” of more targets. Diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war have been punctuated by repeated threats from the US and Israel to resume bombardments as they hold crucial elections. “A potential future war could last longer than previous conflict, and the American president would not be in a position to dictate the timing or the conditions of its conclusion,” said army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia, according to Iranian state television. In the most intense phase of the war, which began on Feb 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the region. Armed groups joined the fighting in Lebanon and Yemen.

Akraminia’s remarks followed Trump’s suggestion that the US could swiftly strike its remaining targets in Iran. “We still have to take care of, I would say one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump told reporters at his Florida residence. “You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain , and you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly,” he added, referring to a suspected underground nuclear complex. ‘No geographical limitations’ Top military and political officials in Iran have warned against any new attack. Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi on Sunday echoed a warning issued a day earlier in a written message by Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. “In a conflict with America, there are no geographical limitations; a vast theatre has been defined for inflicting damage upon the enemy,” Mohebbi said, according to state television. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “we hope the…