Iran's supreme leader warns of "regional war" in Middle East if U.S. attacks
Iran's supreme leader warned that any attack on the country by the United States would spark a "regional war" in the Middle East, following President Trump's threats to intervene militarily in response to the Islamic Republic's crackdown on recent nationwide protests.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments, made while speaking to a crowd at his compound in Tehran and as quoted by the Tasnim news agency, are the most direct threat he's made so far since the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group arrived in international waters off Iran, in the Persian Gulf.
Mr. Trump has also mentioned his desire to curb Iran's nuclear program in his recent remarks, but it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump will use force. He has repeatedly said Iran wants to negotiate.
He had said he wanted to continue negotiations last year before then deciding to strike Iran's nuclear sites last June, supporting Israel's 12-day war with the country. On Saturday, Mr. Trump declined to say whether he'd decided on what he wanted to do regarding Iran now.
In Tehran, Khamenei claimed that the U.S. is interested in the country's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. He said the Americans 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."
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival at the wedding of Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, and Erin Elmore, the director of art in embassies at the U.S. Department of State, at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, Mr. Trump reacted to Khamenei's comments, saying: "Of course he is going to say that."
"We have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there, very close couple of days, and hopefully we'll make a deal. We don't make a deal, then we'll find out whether or not he was right," Mr. Trump said.
Khamenei also hardened his position on the recent demonstrations after earlier acknowledging some protesters had had legitimate economic grievances. 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," he said. "Of course, the coup was suppressed. 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 News Agency, which relies on a network of sources inside Iran to gather its information, says it has verified the deaths of 6,713 people, most of them demonstrators, and that the authorities have detained at least 49,500 people so far. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll and arrest figures, given that authorities have cut Iran's internet off from the rest of the world. Other sources have told CBS News and other media that the actual death toll across the country is substantially higher.
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.
Even this government figure exceeds the death toll reported from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.
Iran has 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, which is the Pentagon's regional combatant command for the Middle East, has warned against threatening American warships or aircraft during the drill or disrupting commercial traffic.
