Remarks come after Ayatollah Khamenei accuses US of fuelling anti-government protests
Leaders from more than 60 countries have been invited to serve on the Peace Council. PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS:
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he remained hopeful of striking a deal with Iran, even as Tehran warned that any American military attack would ignite a regional war, deepening tensions already strained by weeks of unrest inside the Islamic Republic.
Trump’s remarks came after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused the United States of fuelling recent anti-government protests and cautioned that a US strike would provoke a far wider conflict.
Speaking to reporters, Trump brushed aside the warning but left the door open to diplomacy. “Hopefully, we’ll make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right,” he said.
Khamenei described the protests as a “coup”, alleging that demonstrators attacked police stations, government buildings, banks and mosques. “The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” he said
He urged Iranians not to be intimidated by Trump’s rhetoric. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said mistrust of Washington remained deep but signalled cautious openness to talks if the US pursued what he called a fair and equitable deal focused on preventing nuclear weapons.
The crisis has reverberated beyond bilateral ties. The EU has designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation, prompting Iran’s parliament to retaliate with similar labels against European armies.
Iran protests
Iran has been rocked by the biggest protests in years, followed by a heavy security crackdown that residents and rights groups said turned deadly in multiple places. As the unrest spread, the reporting notes competing casualty estimates from officials and outside groups, alongside accounts of mass detentions and a clampdown that eventually appeared to quiet street mobilisation in some areas.
Read: US deploys aircraft carrier as Iran warns against attack
Donald Trump openly encouraged protesters to keep demonstrating and claiming “help” was coming. He paired that messaging with threats of sweeping “secondary” trade penalties on countries doing business with Iran, and kept the possibility of military action in the mix as the crackdown unfolded.
Militarily, the United States moved a carrier strike group into the region as tensions spiked, while Tehran warned it would retaliate if attacked, including signalling that US bases in the region could be targeted if Washington intervened. In parallel, Iran issued warnings tied to live-fire activity and drills around the Strait of Hormuz, underlining how quickly the standoff could spill into wider regional and energy-security risk.
Iran’s leadership framed the protests as foreign-stoked and warned an American strike would ignite a broader conflict. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iranians would not be intimidated and that an attack would trigger regional fallout, while Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was prepared for talks or confrontation, depending on what Washington chose.
