Iran’s elite military force has said the country is prepared to sustain a prolonged conflict with the United States and Israel, as tensions across the Middle East continue to escalate following weeks of military exchanges and regional strikes.
According to a statement carried by the Fars News Agency, a spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Iran’s armed forces could maintain a high-intensity conflict for at least six months at the current pace of operations. IRGC spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said the country’s military was prepared for sustained combat amid growing hostilities with both Washington and Tel Aviv.
The IRGC also claimed responsibility for attacks on more than 200 targets linked to U.S. and Israeli military facilities across the region. The statement did not specify the locations or extent of the damage, but the claim comes amid a surge of missile and drone strikes that have affected multiple countries in the Gulf and wider Middle East.
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Meanwhile, the United States signaled it is not seeking immediate negotiations with Tehran. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington still holds significant leverage and is not currently pursuing a settlement with Iran’s leadership.
“We’re not looking to settle,” Trump said during the exchange with journalists. “They’d like to settle. We’re not looking to settle.” The remarks suggest a hardening stance by the White House following U.S. military operations targeting Iranian sites.
Steve Witkoff, one of Trump’s top envoys involved in earlier negotiations with Iran, said discussions with Tehran’s leadership before the strikes showed little willingness to compromise. Witkoff said Iranian officials told him and fellow negotiator Jared Kushner that Iran would not concede diplomatically what it had refused to yield militarily.
Trump also described ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran as an “excursion,” adding that issues such as rising fuel prices and concerns about the safety of Americans could improve once the conflict comes to an end. The remarks come as the confrontation between Iran, the United States, and Israel continues to widen, raising concerns about a prolonged regional war.
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