Iran threatens to take war “across the region” if Trump orders new attacks on the US

The powerful Islamic Revolution Guard Corps warned on Wednesday that any attack by the US or Israel would be met with retaliation “from across the region.”

In a statement, the IRGC said it had not yet put “all the forces” of the country “into action.”

“But if aggression against Iran resumes, the regional war that has now been warned about will spread beyond the region, and our devastating blows will devastate in unimaginable places,” the statement said.

“We are men of war, and you will see our strength on the battlefield,” the IRGC said, “not in empty statements or social media pages.”

President Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he was “an hour away” from launching new strikes on Iran on Monday evening, but decided against it after a request from several Persian Gulf allies, who he said expressed hope that a peace deal could be reached.

Mr. Trump warned, however, that if no deal was reached, he could order a massive wave of new strikes “in a second.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping said further conflict in the Middle East would be “unacceptable” and called for a “total” ceasefire as he spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, state media reported.

“A complete ceasefire is very urgent, restarting the war is very wrong and maintaining negotiations is very important,” Xi told Putin, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Russian news agency TASS reported on Wednesday that the country is ready to help end the war in Iran.

Speaking to TASS, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, “Russia is ready to provide all possible assistance in resolving this conflict, and the parties involved are well aware of this.

In a joint statement after the leaders’ meeting, China and Russia both condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran as illegal and said they had undermined stability in the Middle East.

CBS/AFP

Iran called the claim that a a girls’ primary school was bombed on the first day of the war built inside the missile center “terrible lie.”

US Central Command head Adm. Brad Cooper told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the strike, which killed more than 165 people on the first day of the war, is still under investigation. He said it is complicated since the school is located in a missile site used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

But on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Beqaei called that assertion “a baseless myth and a monstrous lie” in X.

“This shameless distortion is a clear attempt to hide the terrible truth of the February 28 missile attack,” he said, describing it as “a clear war crime.”

“The military commanders and authorities of the United States responsible for ordering and carrying out this catastrophic attack must be held fully accountable under international law,” he added.

Adm. Cooper said Tuesday that he is committed to making it public once the investigation is complete. But Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington said, “I don’t trust that answer.”

Smith said he respected Cooper, but accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of showing “disdain” for protecting civilian life.

Early American assessments of the strike suggested that the US “it is possible“What caused the strike, CBS News reported in early March.

CBS/AP

The Senate improve the decision reducing President Trump’s war powers in Iran on Tuesday, marking a victory for Democrats after seven failed attempts.

Senators approved the motion to refer the decision to committee by a vote of 50 to 47. Four Republicans – Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana – joined the majority of Democrats in favor of the development of the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to object.

The vote marked the first time Cassidy supported an increase in military power. It came days after he failed to garner enough support head on in the Louisiana GOP Senate primary, where Mr. Trump endorsed one of his opponents.

And three Republicans – Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – did not vote, tipping the scales in favor of the Democrats for the first time since they began bringing up military power resolutions related to Iran.

The vote marked only the first step in the Senate. And even if both chambers agree to this decision, the president is expected to vote on it. But the Democrats say that this step will carry responsibility and is there to change the way the president thinks about the war.

President Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he was “an hour away” from making a decision to strike Iran on Monday, but said that America’s allies in the Persian Gulf had asked him not to go ahead with the plan. Mr. Trump made these comments to reporters during a tour of the White House ballroom.

The president said he would allow “limited time” – two or three days, at least – for talks to continue, saying several Gulf states had told him there was progress in talks initiated by Pakistan on a peace deal.

Mr. Trump said on Monday that he was standing by the strike on Iran that was planned for Tuesday – plans that had not been announced by US officials until the president made his announcement on the Truth Social website.