(Reuters)
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 20 – Iran threatened on Wednesday to spread war beyond the Middle East if the United States attacks again, after President Donald Trump said he had come within an hour of restarting the military campaign.
Six weeks since Trump paused Operation Epic Fury for a ceasefire, talks to end the war have largely stalled.
Iran submitted a new offer to the United States this week, but its public accounts of it repeat terms previously rejected by Trump, including demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz, compensation for war damage, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the area.
Trump said on Monday, and again on Tuesday, that he had come close to ordering a new bombing campaign but had put it off at the last minute to give more time for diplomacy.
“I was an hour away from making the decision to go today,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to retaliate for any new attacks by striking countries in the Middle East that house U.S. bases. On Wednesday it suggested it would also hit targets further afield.
“If aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will extend beyond the region this time,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried on state media.
In the latest diplomacy, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Pakistan’s interior minister had arrived in Tehran. Pakistan hosted the only round of peace talks last month and has been conveying messages between the sides.
