Wire reporting: (AP, via 8 News Now)

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, said on Lebanese television that Tehran would target U.S. military bases, including in Europe, if the United States attacked Pickaxe Mountain, according to Iranian state media cited by ABC News on Nov. 11¹.

The warning came as U.S. and Iranian officials described a stalemate more than eight months after U.S. and Israeli strikes opened the war in February, and after a June memorandum of understanding failed to produce a lasting settlement^1,9.

President Donald Trump told CNN that renewed U.S. strikes were highly unlikely if Iran signed what he called a strong agreement on its nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz, while saying U.S. forces remained ready^9,13. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later told reporters in Paris that economic pressure meant there was no need for major combat operations, but that the military was ready if Iran crossed red lines².

Rubio, speaking before traveling to a G7 meeting, said Iranian demands were not realistic and that the sides were not on the verge of a breakthrough⁶. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said pursuing Iranian interests was not unreasonable and that Washington must end sanctions, the naval blockade and the war before talks could begin³.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said mediation travel had paused after U.S. midterm elections and that Iran's two-day proposal to restore security in the strait remained on the table^6,9. Trump was scheduled to meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a mediator in the talks^6,10.

U.S. Central Command announced Task Force Iron Gate to monitor and disrupt movement of advanced weapons, dual-use technology, sanctioned goods and illicit revenue across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea^8,11. Trump said the unit was in full force with the existing naval blockade^8,13. CENTCOM described a staff of about 20 in Tampa, Florida, and did not announce closed land borders or U.S. troops on them^2,11. An IRGC spokesman called the plan wordplay that would not collapse Iran's economy¹¹.

Accounts of recent fighting differ. Tasnim said a U.S. projectile struck Qeshm Island; Iranian television also linked some southern explosions to Iranian operations in the strait^3,10,14. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations centre reported a tanker hit by a projectile in the strait with no injuries². The UAE said an ADNOC Logistics vessel was damaged in its territorial waters¹.

Trump has said the United States won the war and that it would end soon^1,3. At Arlington National Cemetery he said America did not start the conflict and cited 18 U.S. service members killed by hostile action since February¹. Euronews reported the Pentagon's count as 23 deaths since late February³. Iranian official inflation was nearly 90 percent year-on-year in September; Trump cited a far higher figure^3,10.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the war was not necessarily popular but was undertaken to keep Iran from a nuclear weapon¹. What Pickaxe Mountain refers to in Rezaei's warning, and whether any new U.S. strike is planned there, was not established in the reporting¹.