Iranupdated 43m ago3 min read
Iran Says It Will Respond Without Restraint to Any Aggression, Assassinations, or Killings
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Iran vows full-scale, unrestrained retaliation to any aggression, massacre, or assassination. Iran prepared for comprehensive, multi-layered war and will fiercely crush enemy interests and targets.
Tehran Times was read line by line by the Watchdog: 3.4. See the score →
War rhetoric and conditions
Iran’s senior security officials told multiple outlets that Tehran has made a “definitive decision” to respond to any enemy aggression, assassinations, or killings “without any limitation or restraint,” and they framed the response as “fully ready to crush” the interests and objectives of aggressors and their regional backers. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the U.S. to lift its naval blockade and show it is serious about ending the war diplomatically, writing in a Financial Times op-ed that “Iran is prepared to give diplomacy another chance” if Washington shows “strong evidence of a sincere desire” for a “just and honourable solution.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian told Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir that “Our nation today does not trust the United States,” and he said Iran and the U.S. can “sit together and talk” only when the U.S. “recognizes the rights of the Iranian people and stops bullying and aggression.” Lieutenant General Mohammad Bagheri said “no talks will be conducted with Washington until it takes steps to build trust,” and he added that “This process must begin with fully fulfilling Iran’s conditions.”
Blockade, Hormuz, and threats
Iran linked diplomacy to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with Araghchi saying the U.S. should return to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed in June, under which Iran agreed to re-open the Strait and the U.S. was to lift the naval blockade and release frozen Iranian oil funds. Araghchi said, “If they adhere to these conditions, they should know that the Strait will be fully opened,” and he added that Iran would hold “further rounds of negotiations until a final agreement is reached.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei rejected claims that the U.S. could attack Iran without retaliation, calling the idea an “illusion,” and he said, “If our response is not stronger, it will certainly be equal in force.” China Daily reported that Iran said its offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains on the table, while Iran’s military reported that a supertanker hit a naval mine after taking an “unauthorized southern route,” with the IRGC saying the vessel “exploded and caught fire in its engine room.”
Regional escalation and election pressure
Iran’s warnings of retaliation and its insistence on conditions for talks came as U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s election, and Trump wrote on Truth Social that “America will have to do this work ourselves.”
The Jerusalem Post said Israeli officials were monitoring Iranian efforts to rebuild military capabilities after damage Tehran sustained during Operation Roaring Lion, and it quoted officials saying “It is impossible to completely rule out a situation in which developments on the ground would require Israel to defend itself.”
Tehran Times described Netanyahu’s posture as “We must bring this regime down once and for all,” and it quoted him saying, “We have done so before, and if necessary, we will do so again.”
In parallel, Iran’s military leadership warned that if war resumes, it would respond with “different methods and asymmetric capabilities,” and Mehr News Agency quoted Major General Ali Abdollahi saying, “Our enemies possess modern and advanced equipment, and when necessary, we must respond using different methods and asymmetric capabilities.”