Iran's military central command spokesperson directly addressed President Donald Trump for getting the U.S. involved in striking three Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday night (Sunday morning local time).
"Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it," Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari said in a recorded video statement posted to X and translated to English.
Iran has been outspoken against Israel but is now including American targets and the man it once vowed to retaliate against with an assassination attempt after Trump's killing of Islamic Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Qasem Soleimani.
Israel has since knocked out dozens of IRGC leaders and is now bombing Iranian government targets in the capital city of Tehran, potentially putting Iran on the brink of declaring all-out war in the Middle East and against U.S. and Israeli assets and allies.
Zolfaqari claimed the U.S. involvement this weekend was an effort to "revive the dying Zionist regime," but will ultimately serve to bring Iranian force upon American targets and "expand the scope of the legitimate and various targets of Iranian armed forces, and create the grounds for expanding war in the region."
But the relentless Israeli onslaught on Iran continued to expand after the targeted weekend strikes on nuclear facilities.
The Israeli Air Force struck key regime targets across Tehran on Monday, including a headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The IAF attacks on Iranian "regime targets and governmental repression bodies" also targeted the headquarters of the Basij militia, the notorious Evin Prison for political prisoners, the clock that counts down to the "destruction of Israel" in Palestine Square, as well as an "ideology headquarters," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
"Israeli Air Force fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence from the IDF Intelligence Directorate, struck command centers and assets belonging to the Internal Security Forces and the IRGC in Tehran, Iran," the Israel Defense Forces said.
"As part of the strike, the headquarters of the Basij was targeted. The Basij is one of the IRGC's central armed bases of power. Alongside its other functions, it is also responsible for enforcing Islamic law and reporting civilians who violate it to the regime authorities," the military's statement continued.
The targeted command centers are "significant, both militarily and politically, and striking them harms the Iranian regime's military capabilities," it added.
Material from JNS.org was republished in this story by permission.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.