Middle East & North Africa
Rezaei: If the US strikes Iran again, every base that takes part, “from West Asia to Europe”, will be a legitimate target
Mohsen Rezaei, the Supreme Leader’s representative on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, says that if war with the United States resumes, every military base used in the attack, in the Middle East or in Europe, will be a legitimate target.
A senior Iranian official openly threatens that, if the war with the United States restarts, Iran will strike every military base used in the attack, not only in the Middle East but also in Europe. The warning came from Mohsen Rezaei, the Supreme Leader’s representative on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in a post on his official X account shortly after midnight on Thursday, November 12, Tehran time.
“If the US launches another war against Iran, every military base involved in the attack, from West Asia to Europe, will be a legitimate target for Iran’s deadly strikes”, wrote the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, ending with three phrases in capital letters: “No safe distance. No safe haven. No immunity.”
The threat is tied to the use of the bases
The wording matters. Rezaei is not threatening every American installation in Europe in general, but those that would be used in an attack on Iran. The message thus appears addressed also to the European governments that host American forces, putting indirect pressure on them not to allow the use of their territory, although Rezaei himself did not say so explicitly. Greece hosts American forces at facilities such as the Souda Bay naval base, but the Iranian official named no country or base.
The post comes at a time of tension over American bases in Europe. US authorities recently charged three agents allegedly backed by Iran over a plot against RAF Fairford, the heavy-bomber base in Britain.
A hard line from both sides
On Thursday US President Donald Trump said the US “does not need a deal with Iran” and asked Vice President JD Vance to deal with corruption in Democratic-run states, moving him away from the Iran file. On the other side, Iranian media reported that the senior Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi said on Wednesday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had ordered the armed forces to prepare for operations “in any geographical area deemed appropriate”.
Rezaei is a figure of weight in Iran’s power system. On November 5 he met Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, carrying a message from the Supreme Leader. His new post, with hundreds of thousands of views, looks like an attempt by Tehran to raise the cost of a new American attack for US allies, carrying the threat outside the Middle East. We reported his earlier statement on enriched uranium.
