Iran’s Supreme Leader’s military adviser, Mohsen Rezaei, has issued a stern warning to Israel and the United States, declaring that Tehran will not tolerate further escalation in Lebanon as Israeli forces push deeper into the country in what Lebanon’s government has condemned as a policy of deliberate destruction. Rezaei, a former commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was appointed military adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in March 2026, delivered the warning on Monday in a post on X that underscored growing Iranian fury at the rapidly deteriorating situation in Lebanon.

“The Strait of Hormuz is under Iran’s management,” Rezaei wrote. “We will not allow the maritime blockade to continue, and an escalation of tensions in Lebanon will not be tolerated.

The patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has its limits.” The remarks came on the same day that Iran announced it was suspending all exchanges with the United States through mediators, with the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency citing Israel’s continuing military operations in Lebanon as the primary trigger. Iran had previously identified Lebanon as one of the preconditions for any ceasefire agreement, and officials in Tehran now say that condition has been violated on all fronts.

The broader context for Rezaei’s warning is an Israeli military campaign that has been steadily intensifying across southern Lebanon. Israeli forces have advanced to the outskirts of Nabatieh, one of Lebanon’s major cities, while the government in Beirut has accused Israel of pursuing a scorched-earth policy across the south.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his army to expand the invasion, and on Monday the Israeli government gave military orders to strike the southern suburbs of Beirut Dahiyeh sending large numbers of civilians fleeing northward in scenes of panic and gridlock on the main roads out of the area. The Israeli army reached its deepest point of penetration into Lebanese territory in more than a quarter of a century the previous day.

Tehran’s decision to suspend talks with Washington adds a dangerous new dimension to an already volatile standoff. Iran’s parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the United States of non-compliance with the ceasefire, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that a violation on one front constitutes a violation across all fronts, adding that Washington and Tel Aviv would bear responsibility for the consequences. Iran has further threatened to pursue a complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz and to activate the Bab al-Mandab Strait as pressure tools, a move that would have severe implications for global oil markets and international shipping.

US President Donald Trump, responding to news of the suspended talks, said he was unaware of the decision before it was made public and appeared unbothered, suggesting that silence from Tehran “would be very good.”