Iran warns next war with US could last even longer

If you fill up your car at a Kuwait petrol station, fly out of Kuwait International Airport, or just keep an eye on oil prices because your job depends on them, this is the kind of news that eventually reaches your wallet. A new round of fighting between the US and Iran would not stay far away from the Gulf for long.

Tensions that we’ve been tracking for weeks, including in our report on Iran war fears growing in the Gulf, took another turn on Sunday. Iran said a fresh war with the United States could last even longer than the last one, hours after President Donald Trump suggested the US could strike more Iranian targets within minutes.

What did Iran actually say?

Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia told Iranian state television that any future war “could last longer than the previous conflict”, and that the American president “would not be in a position to dictate the timing or the conditions of its conclusion”.

He was responding to Trump, who told reporters at his Florida residence that the US still has “one or two sites” left to deal with. “We can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump said, pointing to what he called Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear complex. “We can do that all very quickly,” he added.

This exchange follows a pattern we’ve seen building since October, when Trump first signalled new Iran strikes were possible and the US military reportedly handed him fresh strike options for Iran.

How did this war start, and where does it stand now?

The most intense fighting began on 28 February, when the US and Israel struck Iran directly. Iran hit back with missile and drone attacks across the region, and Iran-aligned armed groups joined the fighting in both Lebanon and Yemen. A ceasefire of sorts has held since, but it has been fragile, with both sides repeatedly threatening to restart the bombing.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi added his own warning on Sunday, saying that “in a conflict with America, there are no geographical limitations” and that “a vast theatre has been defined for inflicting damage upon the enemy”. His comments echoed a message sent a day earlier by Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

All of this is happening while the US and Israel head into what the source article calls “crucial elections”, which officials on both sides seem aware of as they weigh their next move. For more background on how this standoff has developed, our International news section has the fuller timeline.

Is there still a path to talks?

There may be. Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Saturday that he had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance trying to restart negotiations. Rezaei said he noticed a more positive “tone” from Washington, but had not yet replied.

He repeated Iran’s longstanding position: Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz or return to the table unless Washington meets its conditions. Those conditions are unfreezing Iranian assets held abroad, ending the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, lifting sanctions, and ending the war on every front, not just some of them.

Iran has claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, and has targeted vessels that try to cross without its permission. The US, in turn, has placed its own naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports. Both sides are, in effect, squeezing the same waterway from opposite ends.

Why this matters if you live in Kuwait

The Strait of Hormuz is not an abstract place on a map for Kuwait. A large share of Kuwait’s oil exports moves through it, and any serious disruption there tends to show up quickly in fuel costs and shipping delays across the Gulf, Kuwait included. Air routes, cargo schedules and insurance costs for ships also get affected when tensions rise this close to home.

For expats and citizens alike, the practical worry isn’t usually sudden danger, it’s disruption: flight rerouting, higher prices at the pump, and the general uncertainty that comes with living a short flight from an active conflict. Gulf states, including Kuwait, have been quietly preparing for this scenario for weeks, as we noted when the US told Gulf allies to brace for Iran strikes.

What are ordinary people in Iran saying?

The source article spoke to residents in Tehran, and their reactions were mixed. Mohadese, a 27-year-old health inspector, said the news “is truly worrying”, but admitted there’s little she can personally do beyond following reports closely.

Ebrahim, a 48-year-old vendor in downtown Tehran, had a different view. “We do not fear another war; we have been at war for 48 years now, we are always at war,” he said. It’s a reminder that for many in the region, this threat of renewed fighting is just one more chapter in a much longer story.

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