Iran would consider US political assets and infrastructure belonging to countries participating in a new war against it as “legitimate targets” if Iranian officials were assassinated or civilians killed, a senior Iranian security official warned Wednesday, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

The Tehran-based official said Iran assumes that the US and Israel will launch another attack and considers Washington’s diplomatic gestures “unreliable.”

The official said this perception had intensified following remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Athens, which Tehran interpreted as giving a historical and civilizational justification for Washington’s war against Iran.

According to the official, Iranian political and intellectual leaders have increasingly concluded that US Middle East policy is directed by Israel, which they believe is preventing Washington from pursuing a diplomatic solution.

The official claimed that Israel takes priority in US President Donald Trump’s regional policies.

Iran already considers itself at war with the US and views Washington’s economic and naval blockade, along with restrictions on Iranian airspace, as a continuation of the military aggression that began on Feb. 28, the official said.

He added that growing pressure from different segments of Iranian society was pushing authorities toward “decisive action” to break the blockade under what Tehran considers its right to self-defense.

According to the official, Iran has instructed various operational units that, in the event of another large-scale conflict involving the assassination of Iranian officials and the killing of civilians, it would consider US political assets and the infrastructure of countries participating in the war as “legitimate targets.”

The warning comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over the US naval blockade and restrictions on maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering a wider regional conflict. Despite subsequent diplomatic efforts, disagreements over the blockade and security arrangements in the strategic waterway have continued.

The warning also follows an Israeli media report on Wednesday that dozens of Israeli fighter jets flew close to Iran’s border earlier this week, with US sources suggesting the operation may have been intended to provoke an Iranian response. (AA)