Daijiworld Media Network – Tehran
Tehran, Mar 8: Iran has warned of retaliation following the killing of its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with senior Iranian official Ali Larijani saying that US President Donald Trump would “pay the price” for the strike that led to the leader’s death.
Speaking to Iranian state television on Saturday, Larijani said Iran would avenge the “blood of our leader” and accused Trump of miscalculating Tehran’s response. He warned that the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel would not end quickly.
Larijani, who served as a senior adviser to Khamenei, said Iran would not leave Trump alone until it had responded. He also claimed that more than 1,000 Iranians had been killed since the conflict began.
“Trump thought he could quickly repeat what happened in Venezuela in Iran. Now he is stuck,” Larijani said, adding that Tehran would respond to the killing of its leader.
He later repeated the warning in a post on social media platform X, stating that Iran would continue its efforts until it had retaliated.
Trump responded sharply to the remarks, dismissing Larijani’s statements and saying he did not know who the Iranian official was. “I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” Trump said, adding that Larijani had already been defeated.
The US leader also insisted that American military operations would continue and reiterated that Iran must accept what he described as an “unconditional surrender”.
Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian released a video message apologising to neighbouring countries for Iran’s retaliatory strikes after the conflict began. However, he later clarified that Tehran had not targeted its neighbouring states.
“We have not attacked our friendly and neighbouring countries. Rather, we have targeted US military bases, facilities and installations in the region,” Pezeshkian said in a follow-up message.
The conflict escalated after coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel on February 28 reportedly killed Khamenei, triggering retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran and raising fears of a wider regional conflict in the Middle East.
Several regional countries including Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Oman have offered to mediate between the warring sides, though military operations in the region continue.