The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a warning on Friday to civilians in countries hosting US troops to stay immediately at least 500 metres from locations where American military personnel are secretly housed, for their own safety. The announcement, described as Statement No. 49 of Operation Nasr 2, came amid a fresh round of tit-for-tat strikes that saw Iran claim attacks on US bases in Jordan and Bahrain while the US launched new operations against Iranian targets.

According to the IRGC, US officers and soldiers had abandoned their bases and moved into buildings in urban areas to direct operations. The statement accused Washington of targeting civilian infrastructure—bridges, fishing jetties, boats, vehicles and railways—and of killing non-combatants, most recently Arbaeen pilgrims at the Iraqi border. The Guards also said its forces had struck a base in Azraq, Jordan, destroying warplanes and a residence, and had eliminated a Patriot air-defence system and a spy balloon in Erbil. The US Central Command, for its part, carried out a new series of strikes on Iranian targets, as reported by Interfax, but provided no immediate details on the scale or objectives. Washington has not commented publicly on the IRGC’s claims, though the pace of operations indicates an expanding campaign.

The IRGC framed the conflict as a US-initiated war that began five months ago with the assassination of a prominent religious scholar and the killing of 168 schoolchildren. After a 40-day war and a truce brokered for regional calm, Iran alleges Washington formally resumed hostilities on 21 Tir (12 July). From Western capitals, the US strikes are understood to target Iranian-backed forces and infrastructure, though the IRGC’s rhetoric—calling on the public to report US troop movements via a Telegram channel—casts the confrontation as an asymmetric struggle that draws civilians directly into the intelligence picture.

The warning has concrete implications for residents of Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and other host nations, where the presence of covert US sites increases the risk of civilian casualties. The IRGC said it would pursue "retribution" if US actions continue and threatened "different responses." With no evident diplomatic off-ramp, the dossier remains volatile, and the IRGC’s encouragement of public tip-offs risks pulling urban populations deeper into the conflict zone.