Iran has threatened to strike United States military bases in Europe if they are used to launch attacks against Iran, in a warning from Tehran's security chief that widens the scope of the eight-month-old war.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran would hit American bases beyond the Middle East if aircraft took off from them to bomb Iran. "If American aircraft take off from an American military base, even one located in a European country or some other distant region, to bomb Iran, we will strike those bases as well," he told Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen television in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, 11 November.

Rezaei added that Iran's response to renewed US attacks would target America's more distant military installations, including ones it had not yet attacked, and said Tehran could also strike islands that Washington assumes are beyond the reach of Iranian missiles. He did not name any specific base or island.

A conditional warning, not an attack

The statement is a conditional warning rather than an announcement of an attack on any named target. It was framed as a response to any renewed American strike on Iran, and it follows weeks in which Washington has appeared to tone down threats of fresh military action after the Republican Party's defeat in this month's midterm elections in the United States.

Rezaei also said in the same interview that there were currently no negotiations between Tehran and Washington, and that Iran was waiting for a clear response to seven conditions it has set, including the unfreezing of assets and the lifting of sanctions, in return for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has blockaded the strait since the start of the conflict, according to reports of his remarks.

US officials have played down the need for further military strikes in recent days. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the naval blockade and economic sanctions were so damaging that there was no need for major combat operations, and President Donald Trump has said he plans to hold off on new strikes against Iran for the time being after appeals from countries in the region.

Why Europe is now in the picture

The warning matters because the United States operates military bases across Europe that could, in principle, support long-range operations in the Middle East. By naming Europe explicitly, Rezaei signalled that Tehran regards the war as no longer confined to the Gulf, and that it would treat any base used in an attack as a legitimate target regardless of where it sits.

The war broke out on 28 February, when US and Israeli forces launched strikes against Iran. Since then the conflict has expanded beyond direct military exchanges into economic pressure, including a US naval blockade, attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and a campaign against Iran's land supply routes announced by US Central Command.

European governments have not publicly responded to Rezaei's remarks in the reporting seen so far. Any Iranian strike on a base in Europe would be a major escalation, and analysts quoted in regional coverage have noted that Tehran's missile arsenal has been degraded by months of war, with Western intelligence estimates reported this week putting its stockpile at about 1,700 ballistic missiles and production at up to 50 a month, roughly half its pre-war capacity.

What to watch next

The immediate question is whether Washington gives a formal response to Iran's seven conditions, and whether the Strait of Hormuz remains closed while that discussion continues. A second question is whether the warning changes how European governments talk about their own exposure to the conflict, given that US bases on their territory are now explicitly named in Iranian threats.

For now, the threat stands as the clearest statement yet from Tehran that it would widen the war if the United States strikes again, and as a reminder that a conflict centred on the Gulf is increasingly framed by both sides in global terms.

Sources: Europe Says, reporting AFP and ANI.