Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, issued a direct warning to Washington this Tuesday. “The IRGC remains distrustful of the enemy, with its finger on the trigger and in full readiness to defend Iran”, he declared. The phrase responds hour by hour to Trump’s threat.

The message to the Iranian people was equally forceful. “We have come to you today to declare our pledge: if after the ceasefire the enemy oversteps and commits any aggression against this soil, this time our target will be wherever you direct us”, Mousavi promised, opening the door to attacks against any US or Israeli target the population designates.

The diplomatic pulse is savage. This very morning Trump declared on CNBC that “the military is raring to go” and insinuated he has the capacity to end all of Iran. Hours later he extended the ceasefire at Pakistan’s request, justifying that the Iranian government is “seriously fractured”. Tehran responded with finger on the trigger before the day was over.

The IRGC has paid a high price. Since the start of the war on February 28, at least 11 senior commanders have been assassinated by US and Israeli attacks, including commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour and intelligence chief Majid Khademi. But Brigadier Morteza Ghorbani confirms that 400 units of the IRGC and the Army are right now on maximum alert.