Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump “will pay” the price for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The statement comes after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, which killed the 86-year-old leader and sparked a war in the Middle East.
“We will relentlessly avenge the blood of our leader and our people. Trump must pay and will pay,” Larijani, a close aide of Khamenei, posted on X on Sunday.
However, Trump rejected the threats, saying, he doesn’t know who is Larijani.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” he told CBS News, adding that Larijani has “already been defeated.”
Trump also stressed that the US strikes will continue on Iran and demanded an “unconditional surrender” from Tehran without any deal.
Ali Larijani, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also claimed that Iran has “captured some American soldiers”. In an interview with state television, Larijani said that Iran will not “leave Trump alone”.
“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.
He said that the United States and Israel were attempting to destabilise and divide the Islamic Republic.
“Their issue was… the fundamental disintegration of Iran,” he said.
He further alleged that Washington was trying to recreate in Iran a situation similar to Venezuela, where interim president Delcy Rodríguez cooperated with the United States under threats of force after US authorities captured her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro.
In a separate post on X, Larijani also warned Iran’s neighbouring countries that they must either stop the United States from using their territory to launch attacks against Iran or face the possibility that Iran would take action itself.
“When the enemy attacks us from bases in the region, we respond – and we will continue to respond,” he said.
“I think the most important problem the Americans have is that they do not understand the context of West Asia, especially Iran. Their perception was that it would be like Venezuela, they would strike, take control and it would be over, but now they are trapped.”
US–Israel–Iran tensions
The Middle East has descended into turmoil following joint military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran last Saturday, which resulted in the death of Ali Khamenei.
In retaliation, Iran has launched missile attacks targeting Israel as well as US military bases located in Gulf countries.
Reports indicate that more than 1,000 people have been killed in Iran so far, while over a dozen have died in Israel. At least six US troops have also reportedly lost their lives in the conflict.
