Khamenei warns US of ‘regional war’ if Iran is attacked 

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has warned the United States that any attack on his country would result in a “regional war” as US President Donald Trump amasses military assets in the Middle East.

“They should know that if they start a war this time, it will be a regional war,” the supreme leader was quoted as saying by Iranian state news agencies on Sunday.

The 86-year-old leader was speaking on the anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s return from exile to Iran in 1979, a pivotal moment that led to the Iranian Revolution and put an end to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s monarchy.

Khamenei’s comments came as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, jet fighters and navy destroyers neared the region after nationwide antigovernment protests in Iran, in which thousands of people were killed in January.

The protests, which started in late December over the collapse of the Iranian rial, later morphed into a direct challenge to Khamenei’s rule.

Iranian authorities maintain that the demonstrators were instigated and led by foreign agents.

“The recent sedition was similar to a coup. Of course, the coup was suppressed,” Khamenei said at the commemoration on Sunday.

“Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centres involved in running the country, and for this reason, they attacked the police, government centres, [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] facilities, banks and mosques and burned copies of the Quran.”

Iranian state media said the protests killed 3,117 people, including 2,427 civilians and members of the security forces. US-based rights activists said more than 6,000 people were killed. Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify the figures.

Since the nationwide upheaval, Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack the country.

The US president initially conditioned a US attack on Tehran’s behaviour towards demonstrators, but he later shifted his posture, saying he wanted Iran to agree to a nuclear deal.

In June, Iranian and American officials were engaged in indirect talks in Oman before Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran. The US also joined Israel and struck Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Khamenei maintained a defiant tone on Sunday, accusing the US of wanting to seize Iran’s resources, including oil and natural gas. “This is the main reason for their hostility, and the rest of their talk, like human rights, is empty talk,” he said.

Despite the rhetoric, both Iran and the US have confirmed that they have opened lines of communication to try to work out a deal to avoid a military confrontation.

On Saturday, Trump said Tehran was “seriously talking” with Washington, hours after the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said Tehran was prepared for talks with the US.

Trump, speaking on board Air Force One, said he believed Iran should agree to a deal with “no nuclear weapons”, adding, however, that he did not know whether Tehran would sign up to such an accord.

“But they are talking to us,” he said, “seriously talking to us.”