Iranian General Warns His Country Will Not Tolerate Threats from Abroad

JAKARTA - The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army warned on Wednesday that the country would not tolerate threats from outside forces after the United States and Israel supported anti-government protests.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the escalation of hostile rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not tolerate its continuation without responding," Major General Amir Hatami said, quoting Daily Sabah from Fars (7/1).

Major General Hatami, warning, "if the enemy makes a mistake," Iran's response will be stronger than during the 12-day war with Israel last June.

Previously, US President Donald Trump in recent days had threatened to intervene in Iran if demonstrators were killed. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has expressed his support for the protests.

On December 28, traders in Tehran staged protests against soaring prices and the fall in the value of the rial, triggering waves of similar actions in several cities, some of which ended in death.

The demonstration has not reached the scale of the 2022-2023 movement, let alone the mass street demonstrations of 2009 that occurred after the disputed general election. However, the economic protests have attracted international attention, including from the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran's international enemies.

"We're watching it very closely. If they start killing people, like they've done in the past, I think they're going to get a very swift rebuke from the United States," President Trump told reporters on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu told the Israeli cabinet: "We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people's struggle and with their aspirations for freedom, independence, and justice."

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday accused President Trump and PM Netanyahu of inciting violence and trying to undermine Iran's national unity.