Iran’s president warns US attack on supreme leader would mean ‘full-scale war’

Iran’s president warns US attack on supreme leader would mean ‘full-scale war’

Lazar Berman

Iran’s president warned on Sunday that any US strike on the country would provoke a “harsh response,” and that any attack on its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be “tantamount to a full-scale war on the Iranian nation.”

Masoud Pezeshkian’s threats came as the Islamic Republic’s judiciary hinted that it may go forward with executions of people arrested amid the recent unrest, which seems to have quelled after a violent crackdown.

Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran on Sunday but went down again shortly thereafter, as news broke that the chief executive of Irancell, Iran’s second-largest mobile phone operator, was dismissed for failing to comply with the shutdown.

Due in part to the internet blackout, the exact scale of the killings that took place amid the mass protests remains unclear. The demonstrations were sparked by an economic crisis, but grew into calls for the fall of the regime.

A Sunday Times report, based on information from doctors in Iran, said more than 16,500 people were killed and more than 330,000 injured during the unrest. An Iranian official said authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests, including about 500 security personnel.

In a post to X on Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said: “An attack on the great leader of our country [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation.” In his post, Pezeshkian also blamed the US and its allies for the hardship experienced by Iranians.

The statement came a day after US President Donald Trump called Khamenei a “sick man” in an interview with Politico, and said, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.” It appeared to be the first time Trump had called for the end of Khamenei’s rule in Iran.

Despite having repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if the regime were to start killing protesters, Trump has held off on any immediate military action against the Islamic Republic. He has moved US military assets into the region but has not specified what he might do.

Executions may go forward

Trump has cited, as a reason for his restraint up until now, Tehran’s allegedly canceling “the hanging of over 800 people,” saying: “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”

Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir, however, told a press conference on Sunday: “A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments.”

Mohareb, an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.

“All those who played a decisive role in these calls for violence, which led to bloodshed and significant damage to public finances, will not be spared,” Jahangir said.

A family member of detained Iranian protester Erfan Soltani said Sunday that the 26-year-old is in good physical health and was able to see his family days after his planned execution was postponed.

A close relative of Soltani who is living abroad told the AP that the family had been told his execution would be set for Wednesday, but it was postponed when they reached the prison in Karaj, a city northwest of Tehran.

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