Iran’s military chief, General Amir Hatami, has warned that the country will respond forcefully to what he described as threats from the United States and Israel, following their support for recent anti-government protests in Iran.
Hatami, the commander of the Iranian army, said on Wednesday that Tehran would not tolerate escalating hostile rhetoric against the Iranian nation without a response.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the escalation of hostile rhetoric against the Iranian nation a threat and will not tolerate its continuation without responding,” Hatami said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
He warned that if Iran’s adversaries “make a mistake,” the country’s response would be more robust than during the 12-day conflict with Israel in June last year.
In recent days, US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could intervene if Iranian authorities kill demonstrators, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly expressed support for the protests.
The protests began on December 28, when traders in Tehran demonstrated against rising prices and the sharp fall of the national currency, the rial. The unrest later spread to other cities, with some incidents reportedly turning deadly.
While the demonstrations have not reached the scale of the mass protests seen in 2009 or between 2022 and 2023, they have drawn significant international attention, particularly from Iran’s long-standing rivals.
Trump said on Sunday that the United States was monitoring the situation closely, warning that Iran would face severe consequences if protesters were killed.
Netanyahu also told Israel’s cabinet that his government stood in solidarity with the Iranian people and their aspirations for freedom and justice.
