Iran's Supreme Leader rejected Trump's threat, but promises retaliation in case of bombing

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the United States would suffer a strong blow if it carried out President Donald Trump's threat to bomb if Tehran does not reach a new nuclear deal with Washington, UNN writes, citing Reuters.

Details

"The hostility on the part of the US and Israel has always been. They threaten to attack us, which we think is unlikely, but if they commit any crimes, they will definitely receive a strong retaliatory strike," Khamenei said.

"And if, as in past years, they think of causing a rebellion inside the country, the Iranian people will deal with them themselves," he added.

Iranian authorities accuse the West of recent unrest, including the 2022-2023 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained for allegedly violating hijab rules, and the 2019 nationwide protests over rising fuel prices.

Last week, Iran responded to a letter from the United States, and President Masoud Pezeshkian explained on Sunday that Tehran would not engage in direct negotiations with Washington, but was ready to continue negotiations indirectly according to Khamenei's instructions.

"The open threat of "bombing" Iran by the head of state is a shocking insult to the very essence of international peace and security," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai wrote on Monday.

"Violence breeds violence, peace breeds peace. The US can choose a course and agree with the consequences," he said.

Addition

On Sunday, Trump reiterated his threat that Iran would be bombed if it did not accept his offer of negotiations, set out in a letter sent to the Iranian leadership in early March, giving Tehran a two-month window to make a decision.

During his first term from 2017-21, Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers, which imposed strict restrictions on Tehran's controversial nuclear activities in exchange for easing sanctions. Trump also reinstated large-scale US sanctions.

Since then, Iran has significantly exceeded the limits of this agreement on uranium enrichment.

Western powers accuse Iran of planning the covert development of nuclear weapons by enriching uranium to a high level of purity beyond what they believe is justified for a civilian nuclear energy program. Tehran claims its nuclear program is intended solely for civilian energy purposes.