During an address on the Persian New Year, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responded to President Donald Trump’s recent threats to attack Iran.
He said on Thursday, “The US and others must know that if they commit any malicious act against the Iranian nation, they will receive a severe blow.” Trump has threatened Iran multiple times in recent weeks.
“Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN. Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this week.
Khamenei argued that Tehran does not control the Houthis, also known by their formal title Ansar Allah. “Why do you label them as proxies? The people of Yemen and the Resistance centers in the region have an inner motive to stand against the Zionists, and the Islamic Republic of Iran does not need proxies. Our stance is clear, and so is theirs,” he explained.
Additionally, Trump sent a letter to Khamenei urging Tehran to agree to a new nuclear deal within two months. Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote that if Iran does not negotiate, “the chances of US or Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities would dramatically increase.”
Khamenei rejected talks with Trump because he destroyed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal during his first administration. “So why do we refuse to negotiate? This same person tore up the JCPOA,” he said last week. “How can we negotiate with this person? In negotiations, one must be sure that the other party will fulfill their commitments. When we know that they will not keep their word, what’s the point?”
The Ayatollah doubled down on that position during Thursday’s speech, saying, “The US must know that when facing Iran, threats will never achieve anything.”
Prior to Trump’s second term, Axios reported that military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities would be a “real possibility” under the new administration. The Pentagon is currently updating its war plans for Iran, and top US and Israeli officials are meeting this week to discuss what will happen if Tehran does not come to an agreement.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts The Kyle Anzalone Show and is co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Connor Freeman.
