Iran dismisses Trump threats to kill Khamenei, warns of response

An adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has dismissed threats by US President Donald Trump against Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying Tehran is not alarmed and warning that any attack on Iran’s leadership would provoke a decisive response.

Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the IRGC commander-in-chief, said on Saturday that "such behaviour from a criminal like Trump is not unexpected", adding that Iran "does not feel worried and is not living in a state of panic, as the Iranian people stand with love and faith behind the Leader of the Revolution".

Speaking to Iran’s conservative Fars News Agency, Jabbari said that "such statements and threats will have no impact on determination, willpower or faith".

Trump recently escalated rhetoric against Iran’s leadership, calling for a change in Tehran’s political system. His comments drew a warning from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who said that any attack on the supreme leader would amount to a "comprehensive war" against Iran.

The remarks come amid rising regional tensions following fresh threats by Trump, which have prompted several international airlines to suspend flights to parts of the Middle East. Air France, Lufthansa, Air Canada and KLM said they had halted flights to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with suspensions expected to remain in place until at least Sunday.

Iranian military officials also issued direct warnings in response to Trump’s statements. The commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, Major General Majid Mousavi, said on Friday that Iran “will respond to his threats and claims on the battlefield”.

"Trump talks a lot, but he should be certain that he will receive the response in the field," Mousavi said in remarks broadcast on Iranian state television.

A senior Iranian official told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister outlet, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, in New York that while Tehran believes a new war is unnecessary, it would respond forcefully if attacked. "If the United States violates Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, it will receive a decisive response. We consider any American attack an existential threat to Iran," the official said.

The official added that during what he described as the "Twelve-Day War" in June, Iran had exercised restraint in its responses to Israel and the United States, but warned that the current threat environment was "completely different" and required Iran to take US threats seriously.

Meanwhile, Fox News cited a US government source as saying that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has not yet crossed the Indian Ocean and has not entered the area of responsibility of US Central Command. According to the source, the carrier remains outside the Gulf of Oman and may require about a week to reach its designated deployment position.

Separately, the US Department of Defence warned that Iran could seek to rebuild its military capabilities and pursue a nuclear weapon if diplomacy fails. In its 2026 National Defence Strategy, the Pentagon said President Trump has consistently emphasised preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, describing "Operation Midnight Hammer", the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, as evidence of that policy.

The strategy said Iran’s so-called 2axis of resistance" had suffered "significant losses" in recent months and accused Tehran of threatening Israel and endangering US forces through regional escalation. The document concluded by describing Israel as a US ally capable of defending itself with "limited but effective" American support.

On the domestic front, Iran’s judiciary announced on Saturday that it had executed two people it said were members of Islamic State (ISIS): Amang Karwanji and Arslan Sheikhi, from West Azerbaijan province. Authorities said the two were involved in a September 2023 bombing of a bus on the Tehran–Ilam route that killed an 18-month-old child and wounded several others.

The executions come as the use of capital punishment remains a point of contention between Iran and its critics, with officials framing such cases as part of broader security efforts against militant groups.