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Iran threatens ‘all-out war’ as Trump sends naval armada to Gulf

Iran warns of ‘all-out war’ as Trump deploys naval armada to Persian Gulf. Supreme Leader Khamenei takes refuge in underground bunker amid rising US-Iran tensions.

Iran threatens ‘all-out war’ as Trump sends naval armada to Gulf
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Iran will treat any attack as “all-out war against us”, a high-ranking local official declared, as American aircraft carriers and other vessels head to the Middle East in the coming days. “This military reinforcement – we hope it’s not intended for actual conflict – but our army is ready for the worst-case scenario. That’s why everything is on high alert in Iran,” stated the high-ranking Iranian official, who wished to remain anonymous. “This time we will treat any attack – limited, unlimited, surgical, conventional, whatever they call it – as all-out war against us and we will respond in the harshest possible way to resolve it,” the official declared. “If the Americans violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond”, the Iranian official stated. He refused to clarify what exactly the Iranian response could be.

Read: Iran’s harsh warning after Trump’s “armada” statements: Any attack means “war” – Concerns after flight cancellations (Video)

Iran: Khamenei in underground bunker

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has taken refuge in an underground bunker in Tehran, according to the opposition-linked Iran International news website, as the country prepares for a possible US attack amid heightened tensions over the violent crackdown on protests earlier this month. According to the report, which cites “information received” by the opposition website, Khamenei went into hiding after senior officials assessed that “the risk of a potential US attack has increased,” as the US moves significant military forces to the region. It’s also worth noting that Trump reportedly remains in Washington and is not traveling to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend, a move that strengthens scenarios for an American attack on Iran.



Trump sends “armada” to Iran

Donald Trump announced Thursday that a “massive” American naval “armada” is sailing toward the Persian Gulf, continuing the pressure he’s applying on Tehran, although the prospect of US military intervention seemed to be receding. The American president has repeatedly threatened to order strikes on Iran in response to the bloody crackdown on recent mass protests in the country, but appeared to back down last week, assuring that Tehran had suspended planned executions of protesters.

“We have many ships moving in that direction, just in case,” he nevertheless told journalists accompanying him on the aircraft as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I would prefer nothing happens, but we’re watching very closely,” he added.

American media reported last week that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was in the South China Sea, received orders to sail toward the Middle East along with its strike force. The American president gave no details about the naval forces in the region, referring only to an “armada” and “great force.” “Maybe we won’t need to use it,” he noted, saying he’s open to talks with Tehran.

The American president’s statements follow threats from the head of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite corps of the Iranian military, that Israel and the US will have a “painful” fate if they attack the Islamic Republic and his assurance that his forces always have “their finger on the trigger.” Protests that began on December 28 in Iran became widespread, turning into the country’s largest protest movement in years around January 8, openly defying the clerical regime, before being violently suppressed.

Flight cancellations and suspensions

Meanwhile, indicative of the prevailing concern are the massive cancellations and suspensions of flights by major airlines. Lufthansa, Air France, Sky and KLM have suspended routes to Israel, as well as to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, due to deteriorating security conditions.

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