Iran has issued a stern warning to US President Donald Trump, advising him to “be careful not to be eliminated” after his assertion that the country’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, would be unable to “live in peace.”
Speaking to Fox News, Trump had previously issued a threat to the Iranian leader, cautioning that the United States would retaliate with “death, fire and fury” if Tehran persisted in blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He also expressed his displeasure with Mojtaba’s appointment, claiming that the US would ultimately dictate Iran’s leadership.
However, Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, dismissed these threats as “empty,” boldly declaring that “even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation.” He then added, “Take care of yourself not to be eliminated!”
These tensions arise amidst an ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran. Trump had previously been the target of an assassination plot by Iranian operatives during the 2024 presidential race, reportedly in retaliation for the killing of General Qasem Soleimani in 2020. US defense officials later confirmed that the primary orchestrator of this plot had been killed in recent strikes.
Mojtaba, aged 56, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was officially confirmed as Iran’s new Supreme Leader on Sunday by the regime’s 88-member Assembly of Experts. He is recognized for his hardline connections to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and is considered more extremist than his father.
The new leader and his family have already been subjected to assassination attempts by Israel. Iranian state media reported that Mojtaba sustained injuries in the ongoing “Ramadan war,” as Tehran refers to the current hostilities with the US and Israel.
Trump commented that Mojtaba’s appointment would “lead to just more of the same” and threatened a new wave of strikes after Iran declared that not “one litre of oil” would leave the Middle East if attacks continued. The US President warned that any attempt to impede tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz would be met with force.
“The US will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world,” Trump said.
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards stated they would prevent any oil shipments if US and Israeli attacks persisted. A spokesperson dismissed Trump’s comments as “nonsense” and maintained that Iran would determine the conflict’s outcome.
In a separate statement, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi indicated that the country was unlikely to resume negotiations with the US, citing past “bitter experiences” in talks. “We are well prepared to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as needed and as long as it takes,” he said Araqchi said.
