Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has once again threatened a “harsh and regrettable” response from the Iranian leadership to any aggression. The Iranian President's post on X comes amid rising tension in the middle east, giving added weight to the timing of the message.
The warning also comes after United States President Donald Trump threatened against over reconstruction of Iran’s nuclear program.
“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to any oppressive aggression will be harsh and regrettable,” Masoud Pezeshkian said.
What did Trump say?
Speaking at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said he had heard Iran was trying to rebuild its capabilities. He warned that if Tehran does so, the US would respond forcefully, though he added he hoped that would not be necessary
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again. And if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening,” Trump said.
Just a few days ago, Pezeshkian had claimed that Iran was in a “full scale war” against the United States, Europe and Israel.
Six months after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian told the official site of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “In my opinion, we are at total war with the United States, Israel and Europe. They want to bring our country to its knees.”
He said, “This war is worse than the one launched against us by Iraq. On closer inspection, it is far more complex and difficult.”
Israeli and US strikes on Iran that came during a 12-day air war in June killed nearly 1,100 Iranians including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. Retaliatory missile barrages by Iran killed 28 in Israel. The US attacked Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan, bringing itself into the Israel-Iran conflict. Later, US President Donald Trump said the Iranian nuclear sites were “totally obliterated”.
Following the strikes, France, Britain and Germany were instrumental in the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran. Also Read | Explained: How Israel-Iran conflict escalated — What’s happened so far
The “full scale war” remarks also came just two days before a meeting between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu in which Iran was expected to be a key topic in the talks.
In November, Iran's intelligence ministry also warned against attempts by foreign adversaries to target supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destabilise the Islamic republic.
Intelligence minister Esmail Khatib cautioned “the enemy seeks to target the supreme leader, sometimes with assassination attempts, sometimes with hostile attacks.”
“Those who act in this direction, knowingly or unknowingly, are the infiltrating agents of the enemy,” he said.
