Iran’s Defence Council has condemned escalating threats, rhetoric and meddlesome remarks – particularly on the part of the United States – against the Islamic Republic, warning that any attack on the country’s security, independence, or territorial integrity will trigger a proportionate and decisive response.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Defence Council denounced intensified threats and rhetoric against Tehran, stressing that the Islamic Republic’s security, independence, and territorial integrity are absolute red lines and that any aggression or continuation of hostile behaviour would be met with a firm response.
‘By repeating and intensifying threatening rhetoric and meddlesome remarks, and in clear contravention of the accepted principles of international law, the long-standing enemies of this land, who have repeatedly and explicitly assumed responsibility for the killing of Iranian women and children, are pursuing a purposeful approach aimed at the disintegration of Iran and inflicting damage on the country’s very foundations.
‘This is a path that is not merely the manifestation of political positions, but part of a pattern of pressure and intimidation, and which cannot be regarded as unanswered, cost-free, or outside current equations.’
The statement comes as a clear response to US President Donald Trump, who in meddling remarks just recently, threatened Iran in a social media post and again during a brief interview, saying the US would support those spreading insecurity and causing possible riot, and that he would come to save them.
Protests erupted last week after shopkeepers in Tehran temporarily closed their businesses to protest the sharp fall of the national currency, which plunged to record lows against the US dollar.
Iranian officials have acknowledged the economic pressure facing the public and said peaceful protests are legitimate.
At the same time, they have warned that foreign-backed elements are seeking to exploit the situation and fuel violence.
Furthermore, Iran’s Judiciary chief, for his part, has already warned that the United States and Israel have openly ‘supported insecurity’ in the Islamic Republic, adding that ‘rioters’ taking advantage of the economic protests will be dealt with firmly and without leniency.
‘While relying on national cohesion, comprehensive deterrent capabilities, and full defensive readiness, the Islamic Republic of Iran once again affirms that the country’s security, independence, and territorial integrity are an inviolable red line,’ the council said.
‘Any act of aggression against national interests, interference in domestic affairs, or action against Iran’s stability will be met with a proportionate, targeted, and decisive reaction,’ the statement stressed.
‘Within the framework of legitimate defence, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not confine itself to responding only after an action has occurred, and it considers tangible signs of threat as part of the security equation,’ it continued.
In conclusion, the Iranian Defence Council, established following the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, emphasised that threats and interference amount to hostile conduct, warning that continued pursuit of such a path would bring about significant consequences for which the initiators would bear full responsibility.
‘The escalation of threatening and meddlesome rhetoric, which goes beyond a mere verbal stance, can be understood as hostile behaviour; a path whose continuation will entail a proportionate, firm, and decisive response, and full responsibility for the consequences will rest with the architects of this process,’ the statement further read.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have announced a series of arrests in Tehran and two provinces following separate security incidents involving organised unrest and armed activity.
Security forces identified and dismantled the core of a network inciting unrest in downtown Tehran, the Tasnim News Agency reported on Tuesday.
According to Tasnim, leaders of the network had recently gathered in busy streets in Baharestan, where they encouraged young people, including teenagers, to take part in disturbances.
Tasnim said the group sought to steer economic protests toward disorder. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organisation said it had been monitoring the group’s activities.
The agency reported that the suspects were arrested, case files were opened, and they were handed over to judicial authorities.
In North Khorasan, the prosecutor in the provincial capital Bojnourd said members of an organised sedition network linked to foreign elements had been arrested after engaging in activities that disrupted public order and security.
Javad Elali said several members of the network were identified and detained following coordinated operations staged jointly by security, law enforcement, and intelligence forces. The suspects were subsequently handed over to judicial authorities.
According to the prosecutor, the individuals had acted in an organised and networked manner, creating unrest and insecurity in various parts of Bojnourd.
The charges against them include collusion and assembly with the intent to undermine national security, disrupting public order and calm, conducting propaganda activities against the country’s Islamic establishment, involvement in clashes, destruction of public and private property, and resisting law enforcement officers.
According to Elali, the cases would be reviewed individually and in accordance with legal standards by designated prosecuting authorities.
He stressed that those accused of actions targeting national security and damage to public and private property would remain in custody under relevant legal warrants during the judicial process.
In a separate development in Khuzestan Province, which lies to the country’s southwest, the police commander of Behbahan County announced the arrest of suspects linked to recent shooting incidents that had caused insecurity in the city.
Mansour Seilavi said that following several shooting cases, intelligence units launched a special investigation.
According to the commander, following coordination with judicial authorities, the police identified and arrested the main perpetrators during an operation targeting their hideout.
He said two suspects were detained and that an illegal hunting firearm along with a quantity of unauthorised ammunition was seized during searches.
The suspects have been referred to judicial authorities.
The commander stressed that the police would deal decisively and in accordance with the law with criminal acts, particularly illegal possession of weapons and actions that disrupt public order and security.
The developments came amid warnings issued by Iranian authorities about foreign aggression and interference targeting the Islamic Republic under the pretext of providing support for sporadic riots over the decline of the rial, the Iranian currency.
Most recently, the IRGC addressed earlier comments made by Donald Trump threatening Iran with military aggression under such pretext, saying the US president had issued the threat out of desperation, and emphasised that IRGC forces would remain ready to sacrifice their lives until all hybrid plots were defeated.
The Foreign Ministry has also warned the United States against any interference in the country’s internal affairs, vowing a ‘swift, decisive, and comprehensive’ response to any act of aggression.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, deputy commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), says Iran is not afraid of its enemies and will not submit to US domination, responding to threats made by US President Donald Trump.
‘We are students of the school of martyrs and we do not fear the enemy,’ Vahidi told a gathering of veterans of the 1980s Iraqi war on Iran in the southeastern city of Kerman on Tuesday.
His remarks came after Trump threatened Iran in a social media post, claiming the US was ‘locked and loaded’ to attack Iran.
The threat was strongly condemned by Tehran as Iranian officials warned US against any ‘adventurism’.
‘Nations have come to understand that they must be independent and refuse to submit to America’s domination,’ Vahidi added.
He noted that Washington is in a ‘downward slope of decline,’ adding that the tools it once used to dominate the world have lost their effectiveness. ‘It is forced to pursue its goals through force, war, terror, and theft.’
He added that actions such as kidnapping the president of a country or assassinating Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani do not demonstrate strength but rather reflect ‘the height of humiliation and signs of collapse’.
He was referring to the US kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, during which he and his wife were flown out of Venezuela after a military aggression and transported to New York City to face unsubstantiated drug trafficking charges.
General Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was assassinated in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.
Vahidi highlighted the status of General Soleimani, saying he was not merely an individual but, as described by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, a ‘school of thought’ and an ongoing movement that remains alive and influential.
He noted that Daesh was created by Iran’s adversaries but was ultimately defeated by General Soleimani, who was a master at resolving complex challenges through leadership, reliance on God, and rational decision-making.
Iran’s enemies believed the assassination of General Soleimani would weaken the country, but instead, the Iranian nation has grown stronger and Soleimani’s influence is now greater than before, Vahidi said.
