Iran-US Conflict: Amid fresh conflict with the US, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday skipped the annual meeting with air force commanders, breaking the 37-year-old tradition. Khamenei has been attending the gathering every year since assuming power in 1989. The annual meeting of the air force commanders has been organized for the past four decades to showcase loyalty to the Islamic Republic. However, the supreme leader skipped the meeting this year due to the escalated row with the US.

Khamenei, while addressing a possibility of attack from the US, asserted that any military escalation would spark conflict across the Middle East. "If the US initiates a war this time, it would spill over across the entire region," the supreme leader warned. The experts believe that Khamenei's absence could be a message to the US- the supreme leader is prioritising caution over the ritual display of military strength, reported Firstpost.

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Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a stern warning to Washington, stating that Tehran would target American military bases across the Middle East if the US launches an attack. "There is no possibility of attacking American soil if Washington attacks us, but we will attack their bases in the region," he said, according to AFP.

The foreign minister further reiterated that uranium enrichment remains a sovereign right of Iran, adding that its capabilities cannot be destroyed. “(Nuclear) enrichment is our inalienable right and must continue. Even with bombing, they could not destroy our capabilities. We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,” Araghchi asserted.

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Earlier on February 6, US and Iranian officials held two rounds of indirect talks in Muscat to discuss Tehran's nuclear activities. This was the first formal discussion between the two countries since June 2025, when US President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.