The US, on Wednesday (March 25, 2026), warned to “unleash hellfire” on Iran, which threatened to open a new war front in West Asia at the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Iran called the US announcement of halting military strikes on Tehran “an admission of defeat” and rejected the claims of talks with the US, while asking Washington to totally end its military operations in West Asia.
The White House said its talks with Tehran continued, despite Tehran allegedly rejecting a peace plan proposed by Trump.
The to-and-fro verbal battle between the US and Iran indicated worsening of hostilities between the two sides, even as military operations showed no signs of abating.
“If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment… Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a new briefing.
“President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again,” she said, while adding that “talks continue”.
Pakistan had earlier said it had conveyed the 15-point US peace plan to Iran. Tehran “responded negatively” to the proposal and said the West Asia war would end on its terms.
“The end of the war will occur when Iran decides it should end, not when Trump envisions its conclusion,” an Iranian official, quoted by a Tehran-based television channel, said.
The American 15-point plan touched on Iran’s contested nuclear and missile programmes, as well as “maritime routes”. Tehran put forward its own five conditions for the hostilities to end, including guarantees against future attacks and compensation for the destruction caused.
Iran’s conditions also included a cessation of hostilities on all regional fronts and against all “resistance groups”, an implicit reference to the Tehran-backed Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
As speculation over a possible US ground invasion of Iran made the rounds, Iranian Parliament’s Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X: “Based on some intelligence reports, Iran’s enemies are preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands with support from one of the regional states.”
Should that happen, “all the vital infrastructure of that regional state will be targeted with relentless, unceasing attacks”, he said. In the event of a US invasion, Iran would block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, an unnamed Iranian military official was quoted by a local media outlet as warning.
Iran funds, trains, and arms the Houthis in Yemen, who attacked cargo vessels in the Red Sea in October 2023 in retaliation for Israeli military operations in Gaza, vastly reducing maritime traffic.