Iran Warns Against Renewed Attacks, Says it Will Conduct ‘Offensive Retaliation’

Iran vowed to go on the offensive against countries that initiate attacks as tensions with the U.S. and Israel keep rising.

“If a country attacks us, we will both respond and go on the offensive,” said Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said. He went on to claim that the previous doctrine was defensive and focused on responding to attacks, but will now be asymmetric.

Elsewhere, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said there won’t be any more talks with the U.S. until “all threats and sanctions in practice” are eliminated. “Dialogue with the language of threats and pressure makes no sense,” he added in a social media publication.

There are no prospects of renewed talks. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to resume attacks against Iran earlier this month but Trump prevented him from doing so, according to a new report.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Financial Times noted that the Israel Defense Forces was ready to conduct strikes on the weekend of October 10. They would have targeted nuclear infrastructure as well as energy targets, including energy plants used with civilian purposes.

However, the outlet added, Trump did not give the green light as he is not seeking a resumption of the conflict before the U.S. midterms, which will take place on November 3.

Netanyahu said days later that he didn’t believe it to be convenient to strike Iran before the country’s elections on October 27. “In my opinion, that is not convenient for us,” he said when speaking to Army Radio last week.

However, he has also said that toppling the regime continues to be a key goal of Israel and he has directed agencies to pursue it. “We must bring this regime down once and for all,” he said.

Netanyahu also said on Wednesday that new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is pursuing the development of its “weapons of death.”

“Therefore, there is only one way to remove this threat once and for all, to topple the regime in Iran, and that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad and the security agencies,” Netanyahu added.

President Donadl Trump endorsed Netanyahu this weekend, calling him a “Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran.”