Iran has vowed to continue fighting until its adversaries capitulate, rejecting claims by US President Donald Trump that its military capabilities have been significantly degraded and warning of "even harsher" attacks.
Tehran will not accept the "vicious cycle of war, negotiations, ceasefire and then the repetition of the same pattern," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Iran will continue to resist for as long as the war continues, Baghaei said.
A spokesman for Iran's armed forces headquarters echoed this stance, telling the ISNA news agency that Iran's enemies should "wait for even harsher measures."
He dismissed Trump's assertion that Iran's capabilities had been depleted, saying US-Israeli attacks had hit only insignificant targets.
"They know nothing about our very extensive and strategic capabilities," he said, adding that strategic military production is taking place in locations about which Iran's adversaries know nothing and "will never be able to reach."
In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Trump said the United States was on track to achieve all its military objectives in the war "very shortly."
"Their navy is gone, their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten," he said. "Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran military [sic], crush their ability to support terrorist proxies, and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb."
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is not aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
He said the US would hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks."
Since launching its offensive alongside Israel in late February, Washington has made various statements regarding its war aims. Critics have accused Trump of lacking a clear plan and of pursuing an erratic course.
On Wednesday, Trump described these objectives as "very simple and clear," saying: "We are dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders."
Iranian and allied attacks on Israel did not let up despite the start of celebrations for the Jewish festival of Passover on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday morning, warning sirens sounded repeatedly in northern Israel. Two men were slightly injured by a Hezbollah rocket, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.
An Iranian rocket also aimed at the north was fitted with cluster munitions, Israeli media reported. The use of cluster munitions is widely banned internationally because they can scatter explosive devices uncontrollably over large areas and are particularly dangerous for civilians.
There was also repeated fire at Israel overnight. A rocket alert was triggered in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, among other places. Magen David Adom reported several people with minor injuries from broken glass in a suburb of Tel Aviv, including two babies.
