Iran’s army chief warned Thursday that “no enemy troops should survive” if the US attempts a ground invasion.
“In the event the enemy attempts a ground operation, no one should survive,” Amir Hatami said in comments carried by state broadcaster IRIB.
Hatami said the military leadership has instructed operational commands to closely monitor movements by the US forces and respond in a timely manner.
“It is necessary to monitor the enemy’s movements and actions with utmost precision and extreme caution, moment by moment, and to implement plans to counter its attack methods at the appropriate time,” he said.
“The spectre of war must be removed from our country, and security must prevail for all, as it is unacceptable for places to be safe while our people are in danger,” he added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Thursday Iran will take ‘necessary actions’ to prevent the Strait of Hormuz from being exploited for ‘military aggression’ against the country, according to Tasnim News Agency.
Baqaei also said Thursday that a US missile strike on a sports hall in Lamerd, Fars, killed 21 civilians on Feb. 28, including teenagers, denouncing the attack as a “despicable war crime.”
“The American new #PrSM missile … struck a crowded sports hall filled with innocent teenagers,” he said in a statement on X.
Baqaei accused the US of deliberately targeting civilians and described the attack as a “despicable war crime.”
According to visual evidence examined by the New York Times and weapons experts, a newly developed US missile struck civilian sites in southern Iran, targeting a sports hall and an adjacent elementary school near a military compound in the city of Lamerd.
An analysis of videos and photos from the scene suggested the weapon used was a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), a short-range ballistic missile developed by the US Army.
Iran’s military response after Trump’s address
Trump said in a televised speech on Wednesday night that the US military had nearly accomplished its goals in Iran, but offered no clear timeline for ending the monthlong war and vowed to bomb the country back into the “Stone Ages.”
But he declined to lay out a concrete plan to wind down the war, now in its fifth week, beyond saying that the US would finish the job “very fast.”
“We have all the cards,” Trump said from the White House in his first primetime address since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28. “They have none.”
He glossed over some major unresolved issues, such as the status of Iran’s enriched uranium and access through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for global oil supplies which Iran has effectively closed.
The strait, he said, would open “naturally” once the war ended.
Trump said he expects the war to continue for another two to three weeks but believes the conflict is approaching an end.
In response, a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, cited by the Fars news agency, said US and Israeli assessments of Iran’s military strength are flawed.
“As we said, we announce to the Zionist-American enemies that your information about our military power and equipment is incomplete. You are completely ignorant of our enormous and strategic capabilities,” the spokesperson said.
He dismissed claims that Iran’s missile production centers and advanced systems had been destroyed.
“Do not think that you have destroyed our strategic missile production centres, our long-range offensive drones, modern air defence and electronic warfare systems, or our special equipment — because such assumptions will only make matters worse,” he said.
The spokesperson said Iran’s strategic military production continues in undisclosed locations beyond the reach of its adversaries.
“The centres you imagine are of little importance, and our strategic military production is taking place in places you do not know and will never be able to reach,” he said.
He warned that the scale of Iranian attacks would increase.
“After the powerful and unbelievable blows you have received so far, expect from us actions that are stronger, wider, and more destructive,” he said.
He added that the war would continue until Iran’s adversaries “wither, are humiliated, regret completely, and surrender.”
The spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Defence said that “the enemy has been defeated in seven arenas,” according to Fars News.
