TEHRAN, September 21, 2026 — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that any renewed US military attack would trigger a significantly different Iranian response, including the deployment of new weapons and strikes on previously untouched targets.
IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi said on Monday that Iran would change both the geography of the conflict and the weapons used if Washington launched another attack.
“We will definitely bring new weapons with new capabilities into the battlefield, and the world will be surprised,” Mohebbi said.
He also said Iran’s targets would not necessarily remain the same as those struck during previous phases of the conflict. According to the spokesman, Tehran has identified new targets that have not previously been attacked.
Mohebbi said the IRGC was prepared for a prolonged conflict and that Iran had continued developing and upgrading weapons during the war. He described some of those systems as strategic weapons that had not yet been used.
Iran says US preparing new military action
Iranian state media also reported that the country’s central military command believes the United States is preparing for another military operation against Tehran. Iranian authorities did not provide detailed evidence or publicly disclose what they believed the planned operation would involve.
The latest warnings came as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remained high. Iran and the United States have maintained competing maritime restrictions in and around the strategic waterway, while commercial shipping through the strait has fallen sharply. Reuters reported that only 17 commodity vessels crossed the waterway over the weekend, compared with 37 the previous week and an estimated pre-war average of about 125 vessels a day.
The IRGC also said Monday that Iranian forces had shot down a US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran separately claimed that an advanced reconnaissance drone had also been brought down. These claims were reported by Iranian authorities and had not been independently verified.
The latest escalation follows renewed threats from both Washington and Tehran. US President Donald Trump has signaled that he is considering further action against Iran, while Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that any new US strike would trigger retaliation and potentially expand the geographic scope of the conflict.
For now, diplomatic efforts have not fully broken down. US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday that the door remained open for Iran to return to negotiations, while Qatar has also been working to revive talks between Washington and Tehran
