AGENCIES

US forces are ready to resume combat operations against Iran if ordered, Washington’s top military officer said yesterday, as the Pentagon threatened a “devastating” response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Hormuz strait.

The warnings came after Iran’s powerful chief negotiator said Tehran “had not even started yet” in the crucial trade route, after a spate of attacks by both sides on Monday threatened to reignite the Middle East war.

Iran fired missiles and drones at US forces and UAE territory, including an energy facility, while Washington said it hit six Iranian boats it said threatened commercial shipping, in the sharpest escalation since a nearly month-long truce.

US Central Command “and the rest of the joint force remain ready to resume major combat operations against Iran if ordered to do so,” General Dan Caine told reporters.

“No adversary should mistake our current restraint with a lack of resolve.”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US was “not looking for a fight” in the strait but vowed that Iranian attacks would “face overwhelming and devastating American firepower.”

“Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we’re going to be watching

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