File image.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on January 18 warned the United States against targeting Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
The warning came amid heightened tensions between the two countries over violent protests in Iran, with President Donald Trump threatening to attack the Islamic Republic earlier in the month if protesters are killed.
Thousands have been already killed, but the exact death toll remains unclear due to an internet blackout. 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. However, an Iranian official said that authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests, including about 500 security personnel.
In a post to X, 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.”
The Iranian President also blamed the U.S. and its allies in the same post for the hardship experienced by the people of the Islamic Republic.
Israel wanted to kill Khamenei during the 12-day war in June, which was backed by the U.S., according to Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said after the war that the Israeli military and intelligence “searched a lot” for the Supreme Leader but that the “operational opportunity did not arise.”
Pezeshkian’s warning came just a day after Trump called Khamenei a “sick man” in an interview with Politico, calling for a new leadership there.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” he said.
Last week, Trump held off from attacking the Islamic Republic, with reports revealing that Arab countries, Turkey and even Israel asked him to de-escalate. He later justified his decision to de-escalate by an alleged Iranian decision to cancel “the hanging of over 800 people,” saying: “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”
However, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told a press conference on January 18: “A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb [an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God], which is among the most severe Islamic punishments.”
“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,” he added.
Trump has already ordered the deployment of additional U.S. military assets into the Middle East, including at least one aircraft carrier.
While he has not yet revealed his plans on Iran, an attack on Khamenei is exactly in line with some of his previous military actions.
In his first term, Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, and reportedly wanted to kill then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. More recently earlier this month, he ordered the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Trump clearly sees targeted killings as a wave to exact pressure and affect change on the enemies of the U.S. However, there are no guarantees that taking out Khamenei will play in favor of the U.S. and Israel. Taking into account Pezeshkian’s latest warning, such an act could backfire igniting a regional war.
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when trump speaks this way making threats, it means something is up his and the zios sleeves. iran needs to take these threats seriously.
if it was the other way round, chumpo would have declared ww3,4,5 already…
warnings mean nothing to the globalists who refuse to listen. the unofficial zionist project to control all global energy and commerce has not altered the decades old policies known as the wolfowitz doctrine. these policies have only become more refined targeting specific regions as possible.
talk will not stop the israel cartel from launching and possible nukes. they have no fear or respect for iran. the pirate cartel has detailed military plans to use all available weapons against all nations it perceives as a rival.