Iranian official threatens strike ‘to the heart of Tel Aviv’ in case the US attacks the regime

A senior Iranian official vowed that the regime would launch massive attacks against Israel in the case that the U.S. decides to strike it, after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threats as well as his calls for the regime to return to the negotiating table on Wednesday.

Writing on 𝕏 both in Persian and in Hebrew, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and one of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s closest aides, said: “A limited [US] strike is an illusion. Any military action by America, of any kind and at any level, will be considered the start of a war, and the response will be immediate, comprehensive, and unprecedented, directed at the aggressor, at the heart of Tel Aviv, and at all who support the aggressor.”

The latest Iranian threat from Shamkhani, who survived an Israeli strike last year, followed Trump’s post on Truth Social, in which he noted that a “massive Armada is heading to Iran” while calling the regime to return to the negotiating table and renounce its nuclear program.

Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Iranian Supreme-Leader Ali Khamenei, told NBC News tonight that Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with the United States. In the agreement suggested by Shamkhani, Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, get rid of its stockpiles of… pic.twitter.com/kRXEqgFUN8

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 15, 2025

However, Iranian officials continued their hardline stance, with Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, saying on Thursday that Iran will respond if it is attacked.

In an interview with CNN, he said, “There will be no negotiations as long as they do not guarantee economic benefits for the Iranian people. We do not consider dictates to be negotiations.”

Western officials are demanding the end of the nuclear program as well as support for regional proxies and limitations on the ballistic missile program from Iran, American and European officials told the New York Times (NYT) on Wednesday.

“Trump can start a war, but he has no control over how it will end,” Qalibaf threatened in another interview, noting that thousands of American soldiers would be at risk.

Even after Iran took a battering last June, it still has thousands of ballistic missiles & drones, as well as antiship cruise missiles and torpedo boats -- all a serious threat to U.S. forces & allies in the region. pic.twitter.com/O6useejpou

— Dov Lieber (@DovLieber) January 29, 2026

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Wednesday there are some 30,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops stationed in eight or nine Middle East bases that are within the reach of Iran’s missiles, the only weapon system it has that poses a threat to its neighbors and beyond.

The regime still has some 2,000 midrange ballistic missiles that can strike as far as Israel, The Wall Street Journal wrote on Wednesday, in addition to stockpiles of shorter-range projectiles that can threaten U.S. bases and cities in the Gulf, or target ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which would shut down one of the world’s most important waterways.

The regime has anti-ship cruise missiles, drones, as well as torpedo boats, which it can use to threaten ships.

However, the regime’s missile arsenal suffered significant losses in last June’s 12-Day War with Israel.

The Hudson Institute estimates that Israel’s Air Force destroyed most of the around 480 launch vehicles used to fire ballistic missiles, leaving the regime with only around 100 after the war. Despite efforts to rebuild its capabilities since then, the regime probably still has a lot less than before the war.

Rubio said that the tens of thousands of U.S troops are “within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian” drones and “short-range ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence.”

In previous instances, the Iranian regime attacked U.S. bases in Iraq and Qatar in retaliation. In addition, the Iranian proxy forces in Yemen, the Houthis, have attacked targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with Iranian missiles over the past few years.

Despite the U.S. threats and offers to negotiate over the past weeks, there have been no indications that the Iranian regime is ready to make any concessions.

The Iranian leadership is convinced that the cost of a war against the U.S. and Israel would still be less than the cost an agreement, a source at Iran’s Foreign Ministry told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The source said that the U.S. is not genuinely interested in negotiations but wants to impose its demands on Iran, which he claimed include recognizing Israel, along with nuclear and military demands.

This would amount to Iran’s surrender, the source said, adding the regime has always been open to a “balanced agreement” but prefers war to surrender.