‘Will cut off the hand of aggressor’: Iran army chief threatens pre-emptive attack over Trump’s rhetoric

“From now on, there will be no leniency for whoever helps the ‌enemy against the Islamic Republic and the calm of the people,” Ejei said.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also vowed not to “yield to the enemy” as the unrest that began last month continues to spread across the country.

Biggest protests in three years

The protests, the biggest wave ‍of dissent in three years, was started by Tehran’s Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers condemning the currency’s free fall. Since then, it has spread nationwide amid deepening distress over economic hardships, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, and curbs on political and social freedoms.

Last week, US President Donald Trump claimed that the United States would take action if Iran “kills peaceful protesters.”

Iran Army chief responds to Trump

Responding to Trump’s comments, Iran’s army chief threatened preemptive military action over the “rhetoric” targeting the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s army chief, Major General Amir Hatami, made the comments while speaking to military academy students in Tehran.

“The Islamic Republic considers the intensification of such rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not leave its continuation without a response,” Hatami said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

“I can say with confidence that today the readiness of Iran’s armed forces is far greater than before the war. If the enemy commits an error, it will face a more decisive response, and we will cut off the hand of any aggressor,” he added.

At least 27 Iranians killed

At least 27 people have been killed and more than 1,500 arrested in Iran in the first 10 days of protests, with the west of ​the country seeing the highest number of casualties according to Kurdish-Iranian rights group Hengaw.

HRANA, a network of human rights activists, has reported a higher death toll of at least 36 people as well as the arrest of at least 2,076 people.

Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured.

Reza Pahlavi urger military to side with protesters

Meanwhile, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s late Shah toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has urged Iranian security forces to side with the people and called for more protests.

“In these decisive moments, I expect you to return to the embrace of the nation and to use your weapons not to fire at people, but to ‌protect them,” the last heir to Iran’s defunct monarchy said in a video posted on X.