Tehran, October 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Iran has warned regional countries that any support extended to the United States in the event of renewed armed conflict with Tehran would be treated as a hostile act, with potential consequences extending beyond strikes on American military bases hosted by those countries.
Fada Hossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said Tehran would be able to identify which regional states were prepared to support American forces if military action resumed.
In an interview with RIA Novosti, Maleki warned that Iran’s response could go beyond targeting US military installations.
“In that case, the decisions taken by Iran may go beyond strikes on the military bases of those countries, and those countries themselves will be classified as hostile states,” he said.
The warning comes amid continuing tensions between Tehran and Washington over the conflict and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of spending heavily on missile defence for Israel. He said Washington had spent $11 billion in taxpayer money on missile defence for Israel over the past three years.
“It has fired more interceptors defending Israel than Israel has,” Araghchi said, describing the relationship between the two countries as unequal. “That is not a symbiotic relationship. It is a parasitic one.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump indicated that further military action against Iran remained a possibility, while acknowledging that the conflict could carry political consequences for Republicans in the upcoming congressional elections.
Asked about the war’s impact on the election campaign, Trump said Americans were divided over his decision but defended the action as necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“Well in one way, they love it because I’m doing what should have been done by other presidents, and another way maybe they don’t,” Trump told reporters before departing Washington.
Acknowledging the political risks, he added, “There’s a price to pay, which I knew immediately when I did it, but we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump did not specify whether he was planning another military operation, identify potential targets or provide a timeline for any further action.
“The Iran War, and we’ve knocked the hell out of them, and we may do it a little bit further,” he said.
The statements from Tehran and Washington underscore the risk of renewed escalation, with Iran warning that countries supporting US military operations could themselves become targets of retaliation.
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