Iranian officials warn of potential retaliation against US military presence

US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in being involved in the appointment process for Iran’s next supreme leader, amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.

Iranian officials have warned that any US military action on Iranian soil would be met with severe consequences, including capturing and killing US troops. Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, stated that some American officials intend to enter Iranian territory with a large number of troops. He also referenced Iran’s former supreme leaders, Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on Saturday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed Larijani’s concerns, stating that a ground offensive would be a “big disaster” for US troops. The situation remains tense, with Israel and the US continuing to drop thousands of bombs on Iran since the conflict began on Saturday.

US President Trump has stated that the war is proceeding better than expected, with the US and Israel in control of Iran’s skies. However, Iranian officials have vowed to continue fighting to avenge Khamenei’s death and repel US and Israeli attacks. Trump has expressed interest in replacing the head of state in Iran with a figure friendly to the US, similar to his actions in Venezuela.

In this context, Trump has indicated that he would like to be involved in the appointment process for Iran’s next supreme leader, following a similar model used in Venezuela where the head of state was replaced with a figure cooperative with the US.

Source: Al Jazeera