Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that any attack on the country's supreme leader (Ayatollah) Ali Khamenei would be considered a "declaration of total war" against the state.
As U.S. President Donald Trump publicly raised the need for regime change in Iran and ratcheted up pressure, the move is seen as an ultimatum that Tehran is ready to risk military confrontation. Reports that the United States considered and then scrapped an actual military strike have surfaced, leaving the Middle East on a knife's edge.
Citing the Guardian, France 24 and other foreign media, on the 19th (local time) President Pezeshkian said on social media, "An attack on the supreme leader is a war against all of Iran." He pointed to "the United States government and its allies' long-standing hostile acts and inhumane sanctions" as the main cause of the economic deprivation and hardship Iranians are currently experiencing. The move shifts internal discontent onto an external enemy to cement the system and draws a clear "red line" against the United States.
The remarks came right after Trump's interview. In a Dec. 17 interview with the U.S. political outlet Politico, Trump called Khamenei "a sick man" and argued, "It is now time for Iran to find new leadership." In effect, he called for an end to Khamenei's 37-year rule. Trump accused Khamenei of destroying the country and wielding violence at an unprecedented level, blasting, "Stop the killing and run the country properly."
The sharp back-and-forth is intertwined with recent internal turmoil in Iran. On Dec. 28 last year, protests began in Iran against murderous inflation and a collapse in the currency's value, and they soon grew into anti-government demonstrations demanding the regime's ouster. Iranian authorities cut off the internet and communications and launched a hard-line crackdown. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) tallied more than 24,000 arrests in the crackdown. An Iranian government official claimed that at least 5,000 people, including 500 security forces, were killed in the unrest. Khamenei acknowledged that thousands had died but pinned the blame on Trump for supporting the protests.
Protests in Iran have now entered a lull. According to internet watchdog groups such as NetBlocks, access to some online services, including Google, that had been blocked is being restored. But the embers remain. Trump hinted at intervention by telling protesters that "help is on the way," and armed clashes are still being reported in Kurdish-populated regions of Iran. President Pezeshkian's warning is interpreted as a final ultimatum that if U.S. involvement turns into actual military action, Iran will launch comprehensive retaliation.