Iran Threatens Retaliation After US ‘Defensive Strikes’

The strikes were conducted to protect American forces after Iranian threats were detected.

By United with Israel Staff

Iran’s leadership escalated its rhetoric Tuesday as tensions with the United States and Israel continued to rise following recent U.S. military strikes inside Iranian territory.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a sharp warning Tuesday, declaring that Israel is nearing “the end” of its existence while also targeting Washington with direct threats.

“The countries and territories in the region will no longer serve as a shield for American bases,” he said, adding that the United States is “moving further away day by day from the status it once held.”

The comments come a day after the U.S. military carried out what it described as “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian vessels.

According to U.S. Central Command, the strikes were conducted to protect American forces after Iranian threats were detected.

“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran to protect our troops,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesperson.

Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to lay naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route.

A senior U.S. official said two Iranian vessels were identified placing mines, while a surface-to-air missile system in Bandar Abbas targeted U.S. aircraft. American forces responded by striking both the vessels, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the missile site.

“These were defensive strikes,” the official said, emphasizing that the actions do not signal the end of the ceasefire with Iran.

However, Iran responded Tuesday with its own show of force.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone over the Persian Gulf after what it described as “precise intelligence monitoring.” Iranian forces also said they fired on an RQ-4 drone and an F-35 fighter jet, forcing them to leave Iranian airspace.

The IRGC warned that any violation of the ceasefire by U.S. forces would be met with retaliation, which it described as both “legitimate and definitive.”

The latest flare-up comes as negotiations continue, with key issues still unresolved.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said the deal with Iran would either be “great and meaningful” or there would be no deal at all. He stressed that any agreement would be “the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama administration.”

Trump reinforced that message again Monday evening, making clear that Iran’s enriched uranium remains one of Washington’s core demands.

“The Enriched Uranium will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or destroyed in place or at another acceptable location,” Trump wrote on social media, adding that international nuclear authorities would oversee the process.

The statements reflect the administration’s continued effort to combine military pressure with diplomacy while making clear that Washington’s demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program remain unchanged.