Tehran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva said on Tuesday that bases in neighbouring countries being used as launch pads for attacks and invasions would be “legitimate targets,” as the conflict in the Middle East enters its fourth day.“If any base in a neighbouring country is used to attack other countries and invade other countries, that would be a legitimate target,” said Ali Bahreini, reiterating Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s warning from a month ago, when negotiations of Tehran’s nuclear capabilities were still underway.After the maiden US-Israeli strikes in Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top leaders of the Islamic regime on Saturday, Tehran launched Operation True Promise 4 – waves of retaliatory strikes on US bases and other assets in the Middle East – prompting Washington to shut down two of its embassies in the region.Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state media: “We cannot reach [American] territory, but we can reach their bases. I think those bases are legitimate targets.”There are eight persistent bases and 11 other military sites in the Middle East that are run by US Central Command, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published in 2024. Several of these bases also located in complexes belonging to regional allies.Late Monday (local time), a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) official said that the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow channel through which a fifth of global energy supplies transit — is closed and that Iran will fire on any ship trying to pass through it.The IRGC brandishes its own naval force, among its other military branches, which operates independently of Iran’s regular navy.Story continues below this adGlobal oil prices have surged 15 per cent since Friday, and stock market indices opened sharply lower on Monday.Iran’s arsenal already hosts an array of ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 2,000 km, placing the majority of US bases in the region within striking distance. It also has Shahed drones, a series of economical ‘suicide drones’ with similar ranges.Operation True Promise 4Several civilian and military facilities in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were hit in Iranian retaliatory strikes.At least six American service members have been killed since the Iranian barrages started. Four of them were killed in a strike on Camp Arifjan in Kuwait Sunday.Story continues below this adThe US closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Tuesday after Iranian drones struck their compounds. Washington also ordered non-essential staff in several other countries to evacuate.A commercial flight terminal at the Kuwait International Airport was struck on Saturday. The airport complex houses the Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, the largest US air logistics facility in the region.As of Monday, 555 fatalities were reported in Iran, including 175 from a school in an elementary school in Minab, southern Iran. Dozens more were reported across the Middle East.No cooldown in sightWhile hostilities compound in the region, Iran’s uranium enrichment remains the main sticking point. No side is ready to compromise. The conflict began a day after talks on the nuclear programme fell apart in Geneva. Last June, the US and Israel incapacitated the programme in bombing campaigns. Israel and the US have targeted Iran’s nuclear sites in this operation as well.Story continues below this adWashington has signalled that it will carry on the conflict despite not having a clear picture of who will lead Tehran in the coming days, leaving the prospect of negotiations in limbo. Earlier on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that the Iranian leadership “wants to talk,” but “It’s too late.”On Monday, Trump told CNN, “We don’t know what the succession plan is in Iran or who the new leader will be.” Washington and Tel Aviv have been calling on Iranian citizens to topple the Islamic regime.The allies have been repeatedly targeting the Islamic regime’s leadership in strikes since Saturday’s operation.Ayatollah Alireza Arafi took charge of the country on a temporary basis on Monday, but the 88-member Assembly of Experts is yet to appoint the next Supreme Leader who will determine the country’s policy and fate.Story continues below this adHours before Trump’s comment on Monday, his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, said Washington is committed to “surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” continuing the conflict, adding that it will only end on ‘America First’ conditions.“We didn’t start this war but under President Trump we’re finishing it,” Hegseth said.Hegseth argued that Tehran was stalling the negotiations and utilising the time to “reload their missile stockpiles and restart their nuclear ambitions.”The US has deployed the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, naval ships and military aircraft, including F-35 multirole stealth fighters in the region.