Iran’s supreme leader warned of a “regional war” as tensions continued to mount over potential U.S. strikes on Tehran and top Israeli military officials visited Washington.
“We don’t want to attack any country,” 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a public speech broadcast on state television on Sunday. “But in response to anyone who harbors ambitions, wants to attack and seeks to cause harm, the Iranian people will strike back forcefully.”
Weeks of escalating tensions have pushed Iran and the U.S. to the brink of conflict, following threats by President Donald Trump in January to attack over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on protests against poor economic and living conditions.