DUBAI: Iran's supreme leader warned Sunday that any attack by the United States would spark a “regional war” in the Mideast, further escalating tensions as President Donald Trump has threatened to militarily strike the Islamic Republic.
The comments from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the most-direct threat he's made so far as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated American warships are in the Arabian Sea, sent by Trump there after Tehran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
It remains unclear whether Trump will use force. He's repeatedly said Iran wants to negotiate and has brought up Tehran's nuclear program as another issue he wants to see resolved.
But Iran had planned a live-fire military drill for Sunday and Monday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The US military's Central Command had warned against threatening American warships or aircraft during the drill or disrupting commercial traffic.
Iranian state television reported Khamenei's comments online before airing any footage of his remarks.
“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Khamenei further said: “We are not the instigators and we do not seek to attack any country. But the Iranian nation will deliver a firm blow to anyone who attacks or harasses it.”