Iran just ordered unlimited retaliation while its own diplomats talk peace

Iran's Supreme Leader just told his generals to hit back without limits.

And a few hours later, his own Foreign Minister called an American outreach a positive step.

So which one is true? Let's get into it.

Mojtaba Khamenei met his top three commanders a few hours ago. His office put out a statement right after.

He told them this. Any new attack from the US or Israel must get, in his words, an immediate and effective response, without geographical limitations. The goal, he said, is maximum deterrence.

The room had Iran's three most senior military men in it. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the armed forces chief of staff. Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, who runs the army. Maj. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who runs the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This is reportedly the first time Khamenei has been seen meeting all of Iran's top commanders together since the war with the US and Israel started.

And here's the part that matters most. He told them to update the country's target list. So that every piece of what he called the American-Zionist enemy's assets, material or not, is within reach of Iran's military.

That's the Supreme Leader personally widening what Iran's army is allowed to hit.

He also said something else. That Iran's armed forces and the Iranian people, nobody else, will decide when any future fighting actually ends.

His office paraphrased him saying the Iranian armed forces and nation alone would decide when and how any future hostilities end.

Now, here's something worth knowing about Khamenei himself.

He hasn't appeared or spoken in public since he was wounded in an Israeli strike at the start of the war, back in February. Every single statement since has come in writing, through his office. This one is the same. A written order. Not a speech. Not a broadcast.

Then, a few hours after that statement went out, Iran's Foreign Minister sent a completely different signal.

Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that an American push to open dialogue with Tehran is, in his words, a positive step. But he said there are no current plans for any meeting with US officials.

That's a reference to a letter US Vice President JD Vance sent about a week earlier, to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The letter offered direct talks, with Iran's nuclear programme on the table.

Araghchi said reports of an imminent US-Iran meeting are merely media speculation. He said Iran sees no need right now to meet American officials. He said Iran will not give up its sovereign rights despite the pressure and threats it is under. And he warned that if Washington sent that letter to create division, that's just one more mistake on top of its previous ones.