Ajker Patrika – Oct 2, 2026
Iran is preparing a broader and more forceful response if the United States launches major military strikes include again, possible attacks on facilities in countries in addition to US operations and on beyond the Middle East, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
Tehran is actually pursuing diplomatic efforts, although Iranian officials believe the prospect of those initiatives successful are very low, according to the report.
Three senior Iranian officials and a person familiar with the discussion said Iran’s top military commanders were reviewing plans to expand the list of potential targets. The planning would be directly linked to the United States and consider sites in the United States and consider sites in countries supporting US military operations, as well as possible outside the Middle East.
Iranian military commanders and senior officials have intensified discussions over the nature and of a response time if the United States attacks again President since Masoud Peshkian returned from New York Week.
There is no final decision that has been taken, the source said. Military planning has intensified as no side appears willing to move towards a settlement.
Hamidreza Azizi, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Tehran remains uncertain whether the president Donald Trump would launch another major military operation or take more limited action, such as on nuclear facilities.
“They don’t appear to respond to symbolically to symbolic actions,” Azizi said. “Rather, they seem to want to want to regret in the restoration of deterrence.”
Tehran is also considering the political risks for a prolonged conflict. Polls show that the war is unpopular among Americans, while high energy prices have become an additional concern ahead of the midterm elections.
Two Iranian officials said allied groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq have been instructed to prepare to assist Iran if the United States launches another major attack.
The instructions were to prepare for a coordinated response that could extend “From the Strait of Hormuz to the region and US interests beyond the Middle East”, the officials said. Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
Tehran has kept the path for negotiations and open preparing for a war. A major concern for Iranian leaders if the country’s economy can withstand a prolonged conflict under US sanctions.
U.S. sanctions have stalled Iran’s oil exports, a major source of government revenue. Years of sanctions and a deepening economic crisis already placed pressure on ordinary Iranians.
During the last week’s United Nations General Assembly session in New York, Tehran sent a proposal to Washington through Qatari mediators. Iran has said that acceptance of the proposal could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the halt hostilities across the region within seven days.
Iranian authorities said the proposal was called for an end to the war, the lifting of the US blockade Iranian ports, the release of at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian funds, and the removal or the lifting of oil against sanctions in Iran.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the Iran’s proposal. Iranian state media later reported that Tehran received a US response through Qatar on Tuesday and was reviewing it.
Iranian sources say Washington wants Iran’s nuclear program to be included in negotiations. Tehran’s position is that nuclear talks can only begin after itsspecific “seven conditions” are met.
“Even if Iran does not directly reject the US response and indirect talks continue, the possibility of an agreement between the two sides is very low,” said an Iranian official.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iranian program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said prospects for a diplomatic resolution limited.
“Iran cannot afford to sustain such US sanctions for long,” Vatanka said. “This could have brought about a major change, effectively taking oxygen out of the government’s lungs. At this stage further, escalation is likely.”
The conflict has seen temporary pauses followed by renewed attacks since hostilities began. Thousands of civilians have been killed, Iran’s military capabilities have been damaged, and the country’s already weak economy has suffered more.
For the United States, the war has failed to achieve Trump’s changing objectives while reducing the Pentagon’s missile stockpiles, the report said. Iran and its allies have sought to raise the cost of war for Washington spreading the conflict across the region.
Iran and allied groups have disrupted oil transport through the Streit of Hormuz, increasing risks in global markets. Iran has launched drone and missile attacks against US allies in the Gulf, while the Iran-backed Houtthis in Yemen has targeted facilities in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis’s movement towards the Bab El-Mandeb Strait has created a second pressure point on global energy shipping routes, the Iranian giving-backed group an opportunity to exert influence the southern to the Red Sea.
A person close to the decision-making process said the combined impact of military pressure and economic sanctions was increasingly being difficult for Iran’s religious leadership to sustain.
The pressure has also been intensified among concerns in Iran over domestic stability. A former senior Iranian reformist official has said fear a repeat of nationwide protests in January, which is the spread amid worsening economic conditions.
Iranian authorities finally suppressed the protesting, which several demonstrators were killed, the official said.
“When taking the place of the country inside the country while the state is under US pressure and bombardment, it can pose an extremely serious challenge to the legiti legimacy of the ruling system,” the official said.
Iranian authorities have tightened control as the anniversary of the January protests. Authorities are also seeking to keep the public mobilised and loyal encouraging government supporters to return to nighttime rallies.
Human rights organizations said the Iranian government intensified its campaign against dissent during the war.