Any U.S. attack on Iran would ignite a regional war in the Middle East, the country's supreme leader warned Sunday, escalating tensions as President Donald Trump has threatened military action over Tehran’s crackdown on nationwide protests.
The comments from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the most direct threat he’s made so far as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated American warships are in the Arabian Sea, sent by Trump there after Tehran's crackdown.
It remains unclear whether Trump will use force. He's repeatedly said Iran wants to negotiate and has brought up Tehran's nuclear program as another issue he wants to see resolved.
But Khamenei also referred to the nationwide protests as "a coup," hardening the government's position as tens of thousands of people reportedly have been detained since the start of the demonstrations.
Sedition charges in Iran can carry the death penalty, which again renews concerns about Tehran carrying out mass executions for those arrested – a red line for Trump.
Iran also planned a live-fire military drill for Sunday and Monday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.
The U.S. military's Central Command had warned against threatening American warships or aircraft during the drill or disrupting commercial traffic.
Khamenei spoke to a crowd at his compound in Tehran as Iran marked the start of a dayslong commemoration of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. He, at one point, described the U.S. as being interested in its oil, natural gas and other mineral resources, saying that they wanted to "seize this country, just as they controlled it before."
"The Americans must be aware that if they wage a war this time, it will be a regional war," he said.
The supreme leader added that: "We are not the instigators, we are not going to be unfair to anyone, we don’t plan to attack any country. But if anyone shows greed and wants to attack or harass, the Iranian nation will deal a heavy blow to them."
Khamenei also hardened his position on the demonstrations after earlier acknowledging some people had legitimate economic grievances that sparked their protests.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28, initially over the collapse of Iran's rial currency. It soon grew into a direct challenge to Khamenei's rule.
"The recent sedition was similar to a coup. Of course, the coup was suppressed," he said. "Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centers involved in running the country, and for this reason they attacked the police, government centers, (Revolutionary Guard) facilities, banks and mosques – and burned copies of the Quran. They targeted centers that run the country."
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists New Agency, which relies on a network inside Iran to verify its information, reports that over 49,500 people have been detained in the crackdown.
It says the violence killed at least 6,713 people, the vast majority of them demonstrators. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll and arrest figures, given the authorities have cut Iran's internet off from the rest of the world.
As of Jan. 21, Iran’s government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labeling the rest "terrorists." In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.
That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.
The speaker of Iran's parliament, meanwhile, said that the Islamic Republic now considers all European militaries to be terrorist groups, lashing out after the bloc declared the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard a terror group over taking part in the crackdown.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former Guard commander, announced the terror designation, which will likely be mostly symbolic. Iran has used a 2019 law to reciprocally declare other nations' militaries terror groups following the United States declaration of the Guard a terror group that year.
Qalibaf made the announcement as he and others in parliament wore Guard uniforms in support of the force. The Guard, which also controls Iran's ballistic missile arsenal and has vast economic interests in Iran, answers only to Khamenei.
"By seeking to strike at the (Guard), which itself has been the greatest barrier to the spread of terrorism to Europe, Europeans have in fact shot themselves in the foot and, once again, through blind obedience to the Americans, decided against the interests of their own people," Qalibaf said.
Lawmakers at the session later chanted: "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" at the session.
Trump has laid out two red lines for military action: the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations.
He's increasingly begun discussing Iran's nuclear program as well, which the U.S. negotiated over with Tehran in multiple sessions before Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran back in June.
The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites during the war. Activity at two of the sites suggests Iran may be trying to obscure the view of satellites as it tries to salvage what remains there.
Trump on Saturday night declined to say whether he’d made a decision on what he wanted to do regarding Iran.
Speaking to reporters as he flew to Florida, Trump sidestepped a question about whether Tehran would be emboldened if the U.S. backed away from launching strikes on Iran, saying, "Some people think that. Some people don’t."
Trump said Iran should negotiate a "satisfactory" deal to prevent the Middle Eastern country from getting any nuclear weapons, but said, "I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us."
