Tehran, Feb 1, (dpa/GNA) – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has warned the United States against attacking the country, saying that a strike would trigger “a regional war.”
“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran does not want war and will not start one, said the supreme leader, who has the last say in all strategic matters.
“But the Iranian people will deal a heavy blow against anyone who attacks or causes harm,” he added.
Fears have been rising over potential US intervention in Iran following Tehran’s bloody crackdown on recent anti-government protests, after President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened military action.
According to Iranian human rights activists, thousands – possibly tens of thousands – of people are said to have been killed during the crackdown.
The US military has significantly expanded its presence in the region since early January, including by deploying the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
And Trump has stepped up pressure with renewed threats, saying additional warships were heading towards Iran.
On Saturday, a senior Iranian official said the country was preparing for diplomatic talks with the US, including on the country’s controversial nuclear programme.
Qatar has emerged as a mediator between the two countries, with the Gulf state’s foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, arriving in Tehran late on Saturday.
Al Thani held talks with his counterpart Abbas Araghchi and Ali Larijani, the secretary general of Iran’s Security Council and a close confidant of Khamenei.
Amid the tensions with the United States, Iran has also stepped up rhetoric against Europe after EU foreign ministers decided on Thursday to designate the powerful IRGC as a terrorist organization.
The move was considered largely symbolic as the IRGC is already sanctioned by the EU for human rights violations.
However, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran now considers EU militaries to be “terrorist groups.”
The IRGC is Iran’s elite military force and far superior to the regular army.
In recent decades, the force has not only undergone a massive rearmament, but also expanded its social and economic influence – for example, through investments in hotel chains and airlines.
The IRGC had been due to hold marine exercises in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday. It was initially unclear whether they took place, after a planned manoeuvre with Chinese and Russian participation was postponed.
GNA
RA