Iran would be compelled to pursue nuclear weapons if attacked by the United States or its allies, a top adviser to the country’s supreme leader warned Monday, following threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The warning came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed retaliation if Trump follows through on his threat to bomb Iran should it refuse to accept a nuclear deal.
“We are not moving toward (nuclear) weapons, but if you do something wrong on the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move toward that because it has to defend itself,” said Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Khamenei, in an interview on state television.
“Iran does not want to do this, but ... will have no choice,” he added.
“If at some point you (the U.S.) move toward bombing, either directly or through Israel, you will force Iran to make a different decision.”
On Saturday, Trump told NBC News there would be “bombing” if Iran didn’t agree to a nuclear deal and said he would impose “secondary tariffs” on Tehran as a form of punishment.
Despite the escalation in rhetoric, it remains unclear whether Trump’s threat referred to a direct U.S. strike or one coordinated with a third party, possibly Israel.
“They threaten to do mischief,” Khamenei said in a speech during the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
“If it is carried out, they will definitely receive a strong counterattack.”
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Iran’s ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, condemned what he called “warmongering provocations” and warned that Iran “will respond swiftly and decisively to any act of aggression or attack by the United States or its proxy, the Israeli regime.”
Following Trump’s comments, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Swiss chargé d’affaires in Tehran—who represents U.S. interests in Iran—to protest the threats, according to an official statement.
General Amirali Hajizadeh, a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and head of the country’s ballistic missile program, issued a stark warning on state television:
“The Americans have at least 10 bases in the region around Iran, and they have 50,000 troops,” Hajizadeh said.
“Someone who is in a glass room shouldn’t throw stones at anyone.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran—a strategy he pursued during his fir
