DUBAI, Jan 21: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued the most direct warning yet to the United States on Wednesday, following Tehran’s violent crackdown on domestic protests.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Araghchi stated that Iran would “fire back with everything we have” if it comes under renewed attack, signaling the potential use of its short- and medium-range missile arsenal.
He framed the warning as a reality rather than a threat, noting that an all-out confrontation would be “ferocious” and far longer than anticipated, likely engulfing the wider region and affecting ordinary people globally.
Araghchi also blamed armed demonstrators for the unrest, despite videos appearing to show Iranian security forces using live fire against largely unarmed protesters.
The threat comes amid increased US military activity in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, accompanied by three destroyers, passed through the Strait of Malacca en route from the South China Sea toward the Middle East.
Meanwhile, US fighter jets and a HIMARS missile system—previously used successfully in Ukraine—have been deployed to the region.
These movements follow a major US military operation in the Caribbean, in which troops seized Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Amid rising tensions, an Iranian Kurdish separatist group in Iraq, the National Army of Kurdistan (PAK), claimed Tehran carried out a drone and missile attack on one of its bases near Irbil, killing at least one fighter.
Iran has not confirmed the strike. Kurdish dissident groups in northern Iraq have long operated across the semiautonomous region, occasionally launching attacks in Iran, creating friction with Baghdad.
Araghchi’s warnings reference Iran’s prior conflict with Israel in June 2025, when ballistic missiles were used, suggesting the country could now target American bases and interests in the Persian Gulf.
Restrictions on US diplomats traveling to Kuwait and Qatar, along with the closure of Iranian airspace, indicate Tehran’s anticipation of potential military action.
The statements, coupled with troop and equipment movements, signal heightened regional instability, with both the US and Iran preparing for possible escalation as tensions over protests, military deployments, and regional security continue to mount. (AP)
