{"id":211328,"date":"2026-05-21T21:22:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/iran-threatens-war-beyond-the-region-if-u-s-attacks-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T21:22:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:22:53","slug":"iran-threatens-war-beyond-the-region-if-u-s-attacks-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/iran-threatens-war-beyond-the-region-if-u-s-attacks-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran threatens war \u2018beyond the region\u2019 if U.S. attacks – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 Iran <\/a>threatened Wednesday to spread war beyond the Middle East if the United States attacks again after President Donald Trump said he had come within an hour<\/a> of restarting the military campaign.
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Six weeks since Trump paused Operation Epic Fury<\/a> for a ceasefire, talks to end the war have largely stalled.
Iran submitted a new offer<\/a> to the United States this week, but its public accounts of \u2060it repeat terms previously rejected by Trump, including demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, compensation for war damage, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the area.
Trump said on Monday, and again on Tuesday, that he had come close to ordering a new bombing campaign but had put it off at the last minute to give more time for diplomacy.
\u201cI was an hour away from making the decision to go today,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Iran has repeatedly threatened to retaliate for any new attacks by striking countries in the Middle East that house U.S. bases. On Wednesday it suggested it would \u2060also hit targets further afield.
\u201cIf aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will extend beyond the region \u200bthis time,\u201d \u2060the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried on state media.
In the latest diplomacy, Iran\u2019s Tasnim news agency reported that Pakistan\u2019s interior minister had arrived in Tehran. Pakistan hosted the only round of peace talks last month and has been conveying messages between the sides.
Iran has largely shut the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> to all ships apart from its \u2060own since the U.S.-Israeli campaign began in February, causing the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history. The United States responded last month with its own blockade of Iran\u2019s ports.
Iran \u200bsays its aim is \u2060to reopen the strait to friendly countries that abide by its terms \u200cto use it. That could include fees for access, which Washington says would be unacceptable.
Two giant Chinese tankers laden with a total of around 4 million barrels of oil exited the strait on Wednesday. Iran had announced last week, while Trump was in Beijing for a summit, that it had reached agreement to ease rules for Chinese ships.
South Korea\u2019s foreign minister said on Wednesday a Korean tanker \u200cwas crossing the strait in cooperation with Iran.
Shipping monitor Lloyd\u2019s List said at least 54 ships had transited the \u200cstrait last week, around double the number from the week before. But that is still only a tiny fraction of the 140 or so each day that typically crossed before the war.
Bloomberg reported that India was preparing to send empty tankers through the strait into the Gulf to load up on oil for the first time since the war began. Three Indian government sources told Reuters this was more of a hope for the future, with efforts still focused mainly on securing transit in the opposite direction: a \u2060way out for ships trapped in the Gulf.
Trump is under pressure to end the war, with soaring energy prices hurting his Republican Party ahead of congressional elections in November. Since the ceasefire, his public comments have veered from threats to restart bombing to declarations that a peace deal was at hand.
Despite saying he had come close to restarting the war on Tuesday he also said negotiations were going well and it would be over \u201cvery quickly.\u201d Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation at last month\u2019s sole round of peace talks, also talked up progress, saying \u201cWe\u2019re in a pretty good spot here.\u201d
The fluctuating U.S. stances have sent oil prices bouncing from hour to hour and day to day, though on a clear upward trend week by week. Benchmark one-month Brent crude futures eased about 2.75% on Wednesday morning to near $108 a barrel.
\u201cInvestors are keen to gauge whether Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground and reach a peace agreement, with the U.S. stance shifting daily,\u201d \u200csaid Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
The U.S.-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before it was suspended in a ceasefire in early April. Israel has also \u200bkilled thousands more and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Iranian strikes on Israel and neighboring Gulf \u200cstates have killed dozens of people.
The Iran ceasefire has mostly held, though there was \u2060a spike in attacks on shipping and on Gulf states in early May when Trump announced a naval mission to reopen the strait, only to call it off after just \u206048 hours.
This week saw a new volley of drones launched at Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which said they came from Iraq where militia allied to Iran operate. Jordan reported shooting down a drone on Wednesday.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said when \u200cthey launched the war that their aims were to \u200bcurb Iran\u2019s support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities and make it easier \u200cfor Iranians to topple their rulers.
But Iran has so far retained its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched \u200buranium, and its ability to threaten neighbors with missiles, drones and proxy militias. Its clerical rulers, who put down a mass uprising at the start of the year, have faced no sign of organized opposition since the war began.
Reuters
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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