DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister issued his most direct threat Wednesday against the United States since Tehran’s bloody crackdown on protesters, warning the Islamic Republic “if we come under new attacks, we will take back everything we have.”
Abbas Araghchi’s comments, which saw his invitation to the World Economic Forum in Davos rescinded over the killing, came as a US aircraft carrier group moved westward from Asia to the Middle East. US warplanes and other equipment appear to be heading to the Middle East after a major US military deployment to the Caribbean saw Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro taken over by the military.
Meanwhile, an Iranian Kurdish separatist group based in Iraq claimed that Iran had targeted one of its bases in a drone and missile attack that killed at least one fighter. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the attack, which would be the first foreign operation launched by Tehran since the protests began.
Arghachi threatens the column
Arghachi made such a threat in an article published by The Wall Street Journal. In it, the foreign minister argued that “the violent phase of the unrest lasted for less than 722 hours” and sought to blame armed protesters for the violence. Despite the internet shutdown, videos emerging from Iran appear to show security forces repeatedly using live fire to target apparently unarmed protesters, a point Araghchi did not address.
“Contrary to the restraint shown by Iran in June 2025, our powerful armed forces have no hesitation in responding with everything we have if we face a new attack,” Araghchi wrote, referring to the 12-day war Israel launched on Iran in June. “This is not a threat, but a reality that I need to express clearly, because as a diplomat and a veteran, I hate war.”
He added: “An all-out confrontation would certainly be fierce and take far longer than the imaginary timeline that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle in the White House. It would certainly encompass a wider area and affect ordinary people around the world.”
Araghchi’s comments may have addressed Iran’s short- and medium-range missiles. The Islamic Republic relied on ballistic missiles to target Israel in the war and left unused its stockpile of short-range missiles, which could be fired to target US bases and interests in the Persian Gulf. There were already some restrictions on US diplomats visiting US bases in both Kuwait and Qatar.
Diplomats from Middle Eastern countries, particularly the Gulf Arab countries, urged Trump not to attack. Last week, Iran closed its airspace in anticipation of the attack.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been in the South China Sea in recent days, passed through the Strait of Malacca, the main waterway connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, as of Tuesday, ship tracking data showed.
A US Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aircraft carrier and three accompanying destroyers were heading west.
While Navy and other defense officials stopped short of saying the carrier strike group was headed for the Middle East, its current heading and location in the Indian Ocean means it is only days away from moving into the region. Meanwhile, US military images released in recent days showed F-15E Strike Eagles arriving in the Middle East and troops in the region moving the HIMARS missile system, which was used with great success by Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.
Kurdish exiles have claimed that Iran invaded Iraq
The Kurdistan National Army, the armed wing of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, claimed Iran had attacked its base near Irbil, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Baghdad. It said one fighter had died, releasing mobile phone footage of the fire in the early morning darkness.
Iran’s state television, which has previously confirmed attacks on the group, did not acknowledge the attack.
A handful of Iranian Kurdish dissident or separatist groups — some with armed wings — have long found safe haven in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, where their presence has been a point of friction between the central government in Baghdad and Tehran. PAK claimed it had launched attacks on Iran as a crackdown on demonstrations, semi-official Iranian news agencies also reported.
The number of deaths in the movement is increasing
The death toll from the protests has risen to at least 4,519, according to the US-based Human Rights Watch. The agency has been accurate throughout the years on protests and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country to confirm all reported deaths. The Associated Press has been unable to independently estimate the death toll.
The death toll is higher than any movement or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic into being. Although there have been no protests for several days, there are fears that the death toll could rise significantly as reports slowly trickle out of the country, which has been under a government-imposed internet shutdown since January 8.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that the protests had killed “several thousand” people and blamed the United States. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties.
According to the Human Rights Activist News Agency, more than 26,300 people have been arrested. The officials’ comments have sparked fears that some of those detained could be executed in Iran, one of the world’s top executioners. That and the killing of peaceful protesters are the two red lines Trump has drawn on tensions.
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Associated Press writers Stella Martini in Irbil, Iraq, Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Elena Bekatoros contributed to this report.
