Iran Promises Severe Response to Trump's Threats
Iran Promises Severe Response
Iran has announced that it will react severely to any aggression following U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of additional military actions if Tehran attempts to revive its nuclear program or missile capabilities. President Masoud Pezeshkian issued this warning on platform X, just a day after Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Florida resort, where he reaffirmed the Israeli narrative in the region.
Previously, the United States had not explicitly stated that it would target Iran's missile capabilities, focusing more on its nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly underscored that its nuclear activities are solely for civilian purposes, and both U.S. intelligence services and the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency had found no evidence of nuclear weapons production prior to the attacks in June by the U.S. and Israel.
The comments from the leaders raise the specter of renewed conflict, just months after a devastating 12-day war in June that resulted in over 1,100 Iranian and 28 Israeli deaths. Pezeshkian declared that Iran's response to any aggression would be "severe and regrettable," with his message coming just hours after Trump told journalists at his Mar-a-Lago resort that Washington may conduct another major attack on Iran.
"Now I hear that Iran is trying to revive itself, and if it does, we will have to take it down," Trump stated while standing next to Netanyahu. "We will wipe it off the map." The U.S. president mentioned that he would support immediate attacks on Iran's nuclear program and missile facilities if Tehran continues to develop long-range weapons.
Israeli officials have expressed concerns in recent weeks that Iran is quietly renewing its stockpile of ballistic missiles, which had been significantly reduced during the June conflict. "If the Americans do not reach an agreement with the Iranians to halt their ballistic missile program, confrontation with Tehran may become necessary," an Israeli official stated this week.
Pezeshkian recently described the confrontation as a "large-scale war" between the United States, Israel, and Europe, which is "more complicated and difficult" than Iran's bloody conflict with Iraq in the 1980s, which left over a million dead. The June war saw Israel launch nearly 360 attacks across 27 Iranian provinces, targeting military installations, nuclear facilities, and government buildings.
The attack destroyed approximately 1,000 Iranian ballistic missiles and killed over 30 senior military commanders and at least 11 nuclear scientists. Iran launched over 500 missiles at Israel during the conflict, with around 36 landing in populated areas. Although Trump asserted that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been "completely destroyed" by the attacks, experts contest this claim, stating that Tehran may have hidden stocks of enriched uranium and could resume production within months.
Despite these losses, Iranian officials insist that the country is now better prepared for confrontation. In a recent interview, Pezeshkian stated that Iran’s military forces are "stronger in terms of equipment and personnel" than before the ceasefire. The war has failed to trigger internal unrest, as Netanyahu had presumed. There have been no significant protests, and daily life in Tehran has largely continued despite the bombardments.
