Iran's supreme leader warned the United States and Israel on Saturday that any new attack would meet an immediate and geographically unrestricted response, as Washington said no decision had been taken on resuming strikes and Tehran said it had no plans to meet American officials.

The statement from Mojtaba Khamenei came at a meeting with top military commanders, according to a statement carried by state media and reported by France 24. It was the first reported meeting between the supreme leader and the armed forces' top brass, and it included armed forces chief of staff Ali Abdollahi, army chief Amir Hatami and Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi.

"Any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful and geographically unrestricted response," Khamenei told the commanders.

He also ordered them to update Iran's target list to include "all types of tangible and intangible assets belonging to the American-Zionist enemy". Iran has previously warned that it would consider severing undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz.

A warning timed to two elections

The declaration lands between two votes. Israel voted on Tuesday and has yet to form a government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp holding the most seats in parliament but falling short of a majority. The United States holds midterm elections on Tuesday.

Both campaigns have shaped the war's next phase. Trump said last weekend that he was weighing whether to "finish them off", and Netanyahu has spoken of a "historic, one-time opportunity" to topple the Iranian government. Polls in both countries could determine the direction of the conflict.

At a G20 press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the president had not yet decided on fresh strikes. "We can achieve military objectives if we seek to. He hasn't made a decision. I have no announcement in that regard with you today, and nor do we take any of it lightly," Rubio said.

Rubio accused Tehran of "actively and openly" targeting commercial vessels for attack, but said Trump preferred a diplomatic solution and set no timeline for talks.

Diplomacy, but not with Washington

Indirect mediation is continuing. Qatari mediators landed in Tehran on Friday, and Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Saturday that "currently, there are no plans for meetings with American officials". "Iran's conditions are clear, and consultations regarding them are ongoing among mediators," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

The gap between the two sides is not only about strikes. The war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Tehran responded with attacks on American assets across the region. Since then Tehran has restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries around one-fifth of global oil consumption.

That blockade has pushed up global energy prices, making the war unpopular with the American public ahead of Tuesday's congressional elections. Gains for opposition Democrats could restrict, to an extent, Trump's ability to enact policy.

Life in the waiting room

For ordinary Iranians, the past year has been defined by uncertainty. "We have been left in a state of limbo for the past year," Fariba, a Tehran housewife, told AFP, according to France 24.

Others were fatalistic. "We do not fear another war. We have been at war for 48 years now," said Ebrahim, a salesman in his forties.

Khamenei's public absence has added to the sense of a system under strain. The supreme leader has not been seen publicly since before he took the helm in March, after the killing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes.

Mixed signals

Even as the rhetoric hardened, Tehran kept a door ajar. Araghchi confirmed that Iran had received Vance's letter, which the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday was sent at Trump's direction to revive negotiations and avert further strikes. "The American side's effort to open a dialogue and reach a broader understanding is viewed as a positive step," he said.

The mediation is not only Qatari. Pakistan has also been working between the parties, and the talks have yet to produce a lasting agreement.

Earlier on Saturday, an army spokesman, Mohammad Akaraminia, said any resumption of hostilities would only widen the war. "The flames of war will undoubtedly engulf a much wider geographical area," he said. Araghchi, writing on X, warned of an "Earth-shattering blow" and said there would no longer be any "red lines".

What to watch

The next signals are likely to come from three places: whether Trump authorises strikes after the midterms, whether Netanyahu can assemble a governing coalition in Israel, and whether the Qatari channel produces anything more concrete than consultations.

For now, both sides are talking past each other in public while mediators work in private — a pattern that has held since February and that neither capital has shown much appetite to break.

The stakes reach beyond the region: the Hormuz restrictions have already fed into energy markets and shipping crises, Israel's post-election deadlock leaves its own policy in flux, and Washington's decision on further arms supplies to Ukraine shows how far the war's logistics now stretch.