US military now looks to restrict Iranian land commerce

After a months-long naval blockade on Iran, the US military is setting up a task force to bolster Washington's efforts to restrict Tehran's movement of advanced weapons systems and other sanctioned material across its land borders and the Caspian Sea.

The announcement of the task force, which has not been previously reported, will be made later on Saturday by the US Central Command, according to a statement seen by Reuters ahead of its release.

Task Force Iron Gate, as it will be called, will be based in Tampa, Florida, and will coordinate with other US government agencies. Beyond movement of weapons, it will also focus on dual-use and illegal revenue streams.

"Strengthening CENTCOM’s collaboration with US interagency partners will further constrain Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military," Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of Central Command, said in a statement.

Central Command estimated that its naval blockade has prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion in crude oil.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it has lifted a self-proclaimed limit of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) on the range of its ballistic missiles, suggesting the country may seek to develop missiles capable of reaching more distant targets amid fears of renewed all-out war. 

The comments by the spokesman of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard came days after the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khomeini, warned that “any kind and level of threat” from the US or Israel would face a response without geographic limits.

Asked at a Tehran press conference about the limit on missile ranges, General Hossein Mohebbi said, “That restriction has been lifted for us.”

US President Donald Trump has confirmed United States military strikes on Iran’s Qeshm island, while also claiming Washington has made “a lot of progress” in talks with Iran.

Trump said on Friday that US forces had carried “minor strikes” against Iranian air defence systems.

He told reporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, “They knocked out – they built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five.” 

Washington is offering a $20 million reward "and possible relocation" for information about Iran's nuclear program, the US military said Friday, as President Donald Trump reiterated Tehran wants to make a deal to end the war.

A State Department program, Rewards for Justice, "is offering a reward of up to $20 million and possible relocation for information about Iran's nuclear program, including its facilities, equipment, and associated personnel, such as those in the scientific community," US Central Command said on X. 

Iran said on Saturday its military had grown "stronger" since the outset of its war with the United States, as mediators including Qatar worked to prevent any return to fighting after months of deadlock in the conflict.

Washington also offered a $20 million reward for information about Tehran's nuclear programme.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Instagram on Saturday that over 48 hours he held phone calls with ministers from 12 countries.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Friday to discuss efforts to end the war. 

Meanwhile, airstrikes hit homes in a village near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 30 others, mostly women and children, a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry said.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Anees Alasbahi accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the strikes on al-Shariya. The AP could not independently verify the claims, and Saudi Arabia’s Information Ministry did not immediately reply to an AP request for comment.

The toll reflected the rapid worsening of Yemen’s civil war, where a yearslong truce fell apart over the summer. Fighting has escalated between the Iranian-backed Houthis — who control Sanaa, the north and the west of the country — and their Saudi-backed opponents based in the south and east.

On Friday, an airstrike in a market in southern Yemen killed at least 30 people, according to Houthi officials. The Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed military each blamed the other for that strike.

Thousands of Syrian troops are set to deploy to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with some already on the ground, multiple Yemeni officials told AFP, as Riyadh rallies international help to repel the Houthis and bolster the government in Aden.

Hundreds have already been deployed to both sides of the border, according to three separate Yemeni military sources and a defence official.

Syria will send around 3,000 troops to join the Saudi-led coalition's fight, a source from the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen's top governing body, told AFP.