Iran’s Parliament Speaker Marks One Month of War With Fiery Warning to American Forces
As the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran reaches its 30-day mark, the conflict is entering a dangerous new phase — one defined by escalating rhetoric from Tehran, a dramatic expansion of the battlefield, and a last-ditch diplomatic scramble half a world away in Islamabad.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a defiant message on Sunday marking one month since Operation Epic Fury began, warning that Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever.”
“Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased,” Ghalibaf added in a statement carried by Iranian state media.
The warning comes as the Pentagon prepares for what U.S. officials have described to The Washington Post as weeks of “ground operations” in Iran — with thousands of American soldiers and Marines now arriving in the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli, carrying 3,500 sailors and Marines, according to U.S. Central Command.
Pakistan Hosts Emergency Diplomatic Summit as War Rages
Even as the bombs continue to fall, a parallel track of frantic diplomacy is unfolding in Pakistan’s capital. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan are convening in Islamabad for two days of intensive talks aimed at de-escalating the conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Turkey’s Hakan Fidan, and Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty are holding what Pakistan’s foreign ministry described as “in-depth discussions” on regional tensions with their Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar.
The choice of Islamabad is significant. Pakistan has positioned itself as a neutral mediator — one of the few nations maintaining working relationships with both Washington and Tehran. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has publicly offered to host direct U.S.-Iran negotiations, writing on social media that “Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement.”
However, an Iranian diplomatic source told The Guardian that from Tehran’s perspective, there is “zero trust” in Washington, and Iranian officials have rejected Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as acceptable negotiators.
The diplomatic push faces enormous headwinds. Even as foreign ministers gather in Pakistan, the Israeli Defense Forces announced they had completed “another wave” of airstrikes across Tehran on Sunday morning, targeting what the IDF described as Iranian command centers and weapons storage sites.
Houthis Open New Front With Missile Barrage on Israel
The war took a dramatic turn on Saturday when Yemen’s Houthi movement formally entered the conflict — firing multiple waves of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at what they called “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier-General Yahya Saree announced the attacks in a televised address on the group’s Al-Masirah satellite network. The Israeli military confirmed it intercepted the incoming projectiles.
The Houthi entry into the war was widely anticipated but nonetheless marks a significant escalation. The Iran-backed group previously disrupted global shipping by attacking vessels in the Red Sea during Israel’s war against Hamas, demonstrating both the willingness and capability to strike far beyond Yemen’s borders.
A second wave of Houthi attacks followed hours later, with Saree declaring the group had launched a “barrage of cruise missiles and drones” targeting key Israeli military installations.
Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the expanding conflict but sought to reassure Americans, saying the war would continue “a little while longer” — language that echoed earlier statements from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the timeline was measured in “weeks, not months.”
Israel Intensifies Tehran Strikes as Nuclear Safety Concerns Mount
The past 48 hours have seen some of the heaviest bombardment of the Iranian capital since the war began on February 28. A human rights monitoring group reported that the number of attacks recorded over the past day was among the highest for a single day since the start of the conflict.
Israeli airstrikes have repeatedly hit densely populated areas of Tehran, with Saturday’s bombardment reportedly damaging residential neighborhoods and striking a prestigious university. Many civilians have been killed in the attacks, despite them being framed as targeting only Iranian state infrastructure and regime-linked facilities.
The strikes have also raised alarming nuclear safety concerns. Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, warned Saturday that the situation at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant “continues to deteriorate” and that ongoing attacks “pose a direct threat to nuclear safety.”
Meanwhile, the combined U.S.-Israeli force struck the Yazd Missile Base in central Iran on March 28, continuing a systematic campaign to degrade Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities. Open-source intelligence footage showed two missiles being launched from the base — though it remains unclear whether they were fired before or after the coalition strikes hit.
On March 27, the IDF struck Iranian nuclear infrastructure including sites involved in plutonium production and the uranium fuel cycle, hitting the Arak Heavy Water Production Facility in Markazi Province.
Gulf States Under Fire as War’s Ripple Effects Spread
The conflict’s devastating ripple effects are now being felt far beyond Iran’s borders. Bahrain reported that two employees of Aluminium Bahrain were wounded in an Iranian retaliatory attack over the weekend. Since the war erupted, Gulf states including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been regularly targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli campaign.
The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply flows — remains largely closed to commercial traffic, sending energy prices spiraling. In a rare gesture, Iran agreed to allow 20 Pakistani ships to pass through the strait, a move seen as a diplomatic goodwill signal ahead of the Islamabad talks.
The global energy crisis triggered by the Hormuz closure is already causing real economic pain worldwide. In India, hundreds of tile manufacturing plants have been forced to shut down due to soaring energy costs. “We are suffering a lot,” one Indian factory owner told The Guardian.
Inside Iran: Regime Conscripts Children as Young as 12
Perhaps the most disturbing development emerging from inside Iran is a report from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealing that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has lowered the age for participation in intelligence patrols, operational patrols, and checkpoint duties to just 12 years old.
IRGC official Rahim Nadaali confirmed the policy in a televised interview on March 26, underscoring the regime’s growing desperation as Israeli strikes have decimated its internal security apparatus. Previous reports indicated that IRGC efforts to mobilize reserve forces had largely failed, with many individuals simply not reporting to military centers.
What Happens Next?
Day 30 of Operation Epic Fury finds the conflict at a critical inflection point. The military campaign continues to degrade Iran’s missile capabilities and military infrastructure, but the war is expanding — not contracting. Houthi involvement opens a new front. Gulf states are absorbing retaliatory strikes. And the specter of a U.S. ground invasion looms larger with every Marine transport that arrives in the region.
The Islamabad talks represent the most serious diplomatic effort yet to find an off-ramp. But with Israel launching fresh waves of strikes on Tehran even as diplomats sit down, and Iran’s leadership publicly daring American troops to set foot on Iranian soil, the gap between the battlefield and the negotiating table has never felt wider.
The next 48 hours may determine whether the war’s second month brings escalation — or the first real steps toward a ceasefire.