Khamenei Orders "Effective, Unrestricted Geographical Response" If US Strikes

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered senior commanders to confront all the threats "with an immediate, effective, and unrestricted geographical response."

According to a series of X posts by the account of Mojtaba Khamenei, the Iranian leader met with senior commanders of the armed forces against the backdrop of possibilities of fresh escalation between the United States and Iran.

"Every level and type of threat must be confronted with an immediate, effective, and unrestricted geographical response," the statement read.

In a strongly worded statement, he instructed the armed forces to retaliate in case the military attacks resume.

"If the enemies resume military or terrorist attacks, it is the armed forces of the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran who will determine the time and conditions for ending them," he said.

He emphasised an "intelligent combat readiness to confront the enemies with force" as a requirement of "maximum deterrence".

Khamenei also directed the forces to strengthen Iran's defence technology.

Earlier, US President Trump stated that Washington is in no hurry to end its war with Iran, characterising the ongoing hostilities as "not a typical war" while maintaining that time favours the American side despite months of fighting and repeated diplomatic efforts failing to yield a lasting settlement.

"There are talks. They want to talk. They keep talking," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"But look, they're not paying their soldiers, they're not paying their police. They're in a lot of trouble. And we have time, frankly. It's a war, but it's not a typical war; we've been there for seven months," the US President added.

However, there is a preliminary draft framework for US-Iran negotiations, which proposes transferring Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile to an agreed third country or reducing its enrichment level, while reopening the Strait of Hormuz to international maritime traffic within seven days of an initial understanding, Al Arabiya English reported.

According to Al Arabiya English, which exclusively obtained the draft's key points, China could potentially act as a guarantor for the implementation and sustainability of any agreement.

The framework also proposes holding direct US-Iran negotiations in Doha instead of Istanbul.

An American delegation is expected to join Iranian officials for direct talks in Doha following a reported breakthrough in indirect negotiations, The Times of Israel reported, citing the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)