Iran warns of ‘new battlefield’ after reported US strike on Qeshm

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on Tuesday that any US strategic error would open "a new battlefield in the war," hours after a US Air Force jet reportedly struck an IRGC missile system on Qeshm Island.

Ghalibaf told parliament Iran was at its highest level of defensive readiness, and that responsibility for preventing further escalation rested with Washington. "The ball is in America's court to prevent war," he said.

The remarks came after residents of Qeshm Island, Hengam and Bandar Abbas reported successive explosions and tremors overnight, according to Iranian news agencies IRNA and Fars.

US media outlets reported that a US Air Force jet had struck an IRGC surface-to-air missile launch system on the island after a missile had been fired from Qeshm at a US aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz.

The operation was described as limited and aimed at protecting commercial shipping. CENTCOM issued no formal statement confirming or denying the accounts, and no Iranian military or government official formally confirmed a direct attack on the island.

The IRGC said separately that its electronic warfare systems had downed two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm Island and destroyed a US MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz.

Ghalibaf said late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as commander-in-chief, had defined Iran's military strategy for confronting a possible attack.

According to Ghalibaf, senior military commanders and Mojtaba Khamenei — the new supreme leader in direct control of the IRGC — met last week and reportedly decided on "a response without geographical limits" and Tehran's right to determine when any conflict ends.