Iran’s supreme leader warned Sunday that any attack by the United States would spark a “regional war” within the Mideast, additional escalating tensions as President Donald Trump has threatened to militarily strike the Islamic Republic.
The feedback from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the most-direct menace he’s made as far as the plane provider USS Abraham Lincoln and related American warships are within the Arabian Sea, despatched by Trump there after Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
It stays unclear whether or not Trump will use pressure. He’s repeatedly mentioned Iran needs to barter and has introduced up Tehran’s nuclear program as one other subject he needs to see resolved.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks throughout a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 17, 2026. LEADER’S OFFICE HANDOUT/EPA/Shutterstock
But Khamenei additionally referred to the nationwide protests as “a coup,” hardening the federal government’s place as tens of hundreds of individuals reportedly have been detained because the begin of the demonstrations.
Seditious expenses in Iran can carry the dying penalty, which once more renews considerations about Tehran finishing up mass executions for these arrested — a purple line for Trump.
Iran had additionally deliberate a live-fire navy drill for Sunday and Monday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the slender mouth of the Persian Gulf via which a fifth of all oil traded passes.
The US navy’s Central Command had warned towards threatening American warships or plane throughout the drill or disrupting industrial visitors.
Khamenei warns US
Iranian state tv reported Khamenei’s feedback on-line earlier than airing any footage of his remarks.
“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.
It added that Khamenei mentioned: “We are not the instigators and we do not seek to attack any country. But the Iranian nation will deliver a firm blow to anyone who attacks or harasses it.”
The plane provider USS Abraham Lincoln and related American warships are within the Arabian Sea. US NAVY/AFP by way of Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving at Palm Beach International Airport on Jan. 31, 2026. AP
Khamenei additionally hardened his place on the demonstrations after earlier acknowledging some individuals had reliable financial grievances that sparked their protests. The demonstrations started Dec. 28, initially over the collapse of Iran’s rial forex. It quickly grew right into a direct problem to Khamenei’s rule.
“The recent sedition was similar to a coup. Of course, the coup was suppressed,” he mentioned. “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.”
Parliament speaker says EU militaries thought-about terrorist teams.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, in the meantime, mentioned that the Islamic Republic now considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist teams, lashing out after the bloc declared the nation’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard a terror group over its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former Guard commander, introduced the fear designation, which is able to seemingly be largely symbolic.
Iran has used a 2019 legislation to reciprocally declare different nations’ militaries terror teams following the United States declaration of the Guard a terror group that 12 months.
Iranian protesters take over a road in Tehran throughout an anti-government demonstration on Jan. 8, 2026. AP
Qalibaf made the announcement as he and others in parliament wore Guard uniforms in help of the pressure. The Guard, which additionally controls Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and has huge financial pursuits in Iran, solutions solely to Iran’s 86-year-old 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 mentioned.
Lawmakers on the session later chanted: “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” on the session.
Iranian parliament members wearing IRGC uniforms chant “Death to America” throughout a session in Tehran on Feb. 1, 2026. ICANA NEWS AGENCY/AFP by way of Getty Images
A protester calls on President Donald Trump to “Act Now” towards the Iranian regime throughout a protest outdoors the US Embassy in London, England, on Jan. 31, 2026. Andrea Domeniconi/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Trump says Iran is ‘seriously talking’ to US
Trump has laid out two purple strains for navy motion: the killing of peaceable protesters or the attainable mass execution of these detained in a serious crackdown over the demonstrations.
He’s more and more begun discussing Iran’s nuclear program as effectively, which the US negotiated over with Tehran in a number of classes earlier than Israel launched a 12-day struggle with Iran again in June.
The US bombed three Iranian nuclear websites throughout the struggle. Activity at two of the websites suggests Iran could also be making an attempt to obscure the view of satellites because it tries to salvage what stays there.
Trump on Saturday night time declined to say whether or not he’d decided on what he needed to do relating to Iran.
Speaking to reporters as he flew to Florida, Trump sidestepped a query about whether or not Tehran would be emboldened if the US backed away from launching strikes on Iran, saying, “Some people think that. Some people don’t.”
Trump mentioned Iran ought to negotiate a “satisfactory” deal to stop the Middle Eastern nation from getting any nuclear weapons, however mentioned, “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us.”
Ali Larijani, a prime safety official in Iran, wrote on X late Saturday that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.” However, there isn’t a public signal of any direct talks with the United States, one thing Khamenei has repeatedly dominated out.
