Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned today that any “evil action” against Iran will draw a harsh retaliatory response. “First, if any hostile act is committed from outside —though the likelihood is not high— it will undoubtedly be met with a strong counterstrike,” he said during a sermon on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, reported Tasnim. “Second, if the enemy, as in previous years, seeks to incite internal sedition, the nation will respond decisively to the instigators, just as it has in the past.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei hit back at U.S. President Donald Trump for threatening Iran with bombings, saying such shocking comments jeopardize international security and violate the UN Charter. “An open threat of ‘bombing’ by a Head of State against Iran is a shocking affront to the very essence of International Peace and Security,” Baqaei said in a post on the Foreign Ministry X account on March 31, and continued: “It violates the United Nations Charter and betrays the Safeguards under the IAEA.”
“Violence breeds violence, peace begets peace. The US can choose the course...; and concede to CONSEQUENCES…” the Iranian spokesman stated (capitalization and emphasis in the original).
Baqaei’s statement came after Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welkeron on March 30 that “If they”—the Iranians—"don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.”
Khamenei’s warning followed a statement made on Sunday, March 30, by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in which he reported that Iran has responded to a recent letter from Trump through Omani mediators, emphasizing that the path of negotiations will depend on Washington’s behavior.
Pezeshkian said that Iran has never shied away from negotiations, and it is only the broken promises by the other side that have damaged trust, which must be restored, reported IRNA. “While the response rules out the possibility of direct talks between the two sides, it says that the path for indirect negotiations remains open,” the President said during a cabinet meeting. “It’s the behavior of the Americans that will determine the continuation of the negotiation process.”
