Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threaten US sites in Middle East if tankers come under fire

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported on Saturday, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran’s response to its latest negotiating position.

“Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships,” the force said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Donald Trump had said on Friday that he was expecting Iran’s answer to Washington’s latest proposal for a peace deal “supposedly tonight”.

But if Tehran sent Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly questioned the reliability of US leadership.

“The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy,” he said in a call with his Turkish counterpart, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran’s ports. An Iranian military official told local media the navy had responded with strikes.

That followed a flare-up the night before in the strait of Hormuz, the vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control in order to extract tolls and wield economic leverage over the US and its allies.

The US says it is unacceptable for Tehran to control the key oil route.

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said on Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran’s answer “very soon”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday said the proposal was still “under review”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Saturday met with the leader of Qatar, a key intermediary for Washington in dialogue with Iran, discussing “continued close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East”, the state department said.

Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met the previous day with the US vice-president, JD Vance, to discuss the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.

Iran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate’s role as host of a major US airbase.