New Delhi: Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has warned that Tehran will retaliate for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His remarks came as the war between Iran, the United States and Israel entered its ninth day.
Larijani made the statement during an interview with Iranian state television on Saturday. Khamenei died on February 28 after a strike carried out by the United States and Israel. Larijani accused US President Donald Trump of underestimating Iran and warned that the conflict would not end quickly.
“Trump got a taste of what happened in Venezuela and liked it, thinking he could quickly do the same in Iran. Now he’s stuck,” Larijani said.
He said Iran would continue to pursue Trump over the attack. “We will not leave him alone. He must pay the price for what he did. He killed our leader and martyred more than 1,000 of our people. This is not a simple matter,” Larijani said.
Larijani later repeated the warning in a post on X. “We won’t leave him alone until we reciprocate what he did,” he wrote.
Trump dismisses threat
Trump responded sharply to Larijani’s comments. Speaking to CBS News, the US president said he did not even know the Iranian official. “I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” Trump said.
He also claimed that Iranian leaders had already lost influence in the region. Trump said US military operations against Iran would continue and insisted that Tehran must accept an “unconditional surrender”.
Iran signals mixed message to neighbours
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier apologised to neighbouring countries after Tehran carried out retaliatory strikes following the start of the war. He said Iran would not attack Persian Gulf states unless they attacked first. Later, Pezeshkian clarified his remarks in a post on social media. He said Iran had not targeted neighbouring countries.
“We have not attacked our friendly and neighbouring countries. Rather, we have targeted US military bases, facilities, and installations in the region,” he said. Trump later mocked Iran’s position and called the country the “loser of the Middle East”.
Conflict shows no sign of slowing
The war began when the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran last weekend. The attack killed Khamenei and several Iranian officials. Iran later responded with missile and drone strikes that raised fears of a wider conflict.
Despite the escalation, Pezeshkian said some countries had offered to mediate between Iran, the United States and Israel. He did not name the countries involved. Regional powers such as Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Oman have offered to help mediate the crisis.
However, military operations continue across the region. The Israel Defence Forces said it had entered a “new stage” of its campaign against Iran and warned that more strikes could follow. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also signalled a stronger military push. American military action against Iran was “just getting started”, he said, adding that attacks would “surge dramatically” in the coming days.