Armed forces on highest alert, Tehran warns

Iran warned the United States and Israel on Saturday against any attack, saying its armed forces were on ‘’maximum alert’’ following the deployment this week of significant U.S. military forces in the Gulf.

Since protests that were violently suppressed by Iranian authorities in early January, President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with military action. Washington is now pressing the Islamic Republic to accept a nuclear deal, and Trump said Friday that Iran wanted to reach one, without giving a timeline.

Tehran’s tone remained defiant. ‘’If the enemy makes a mistake, it will undoubtedly endanger its own security, the region’s security and that of the Zionist regime,’’ Iranian army chief Amir Hatami said, according to state media, adding that Iranian forces were ‘’on maximum alert.’’

’’The knowledge and nuclear technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be eradicated, even if the nation’s scientists and sons fall as martyrs,’’ Hatami added, referring to airstrikes that targeted nuclear sites and Iranian scientists during the 12-day war launched by Israel last June.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he did not rule out participating in talks if they were ‘’fair and equitable,’’ repeating that Iran had ‘’never sought to acquire nuclear weapons.’’ He added, however, that Iran’s defense and missile capabilities ‘’would never be subject to negotiations.’’

Trump threatened Iran this week with an attack « far worse » than the strikes on its nuclear facilities in June, when Washington joined Israel in its assault on the country, which Western powers suspect of seeking nuclear weapons.

Gulf countries and neighboring Turkey called for restraint. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who met Araghchi on Friday, said the resumption of nuclear talks was ‘’vital’’ to ease regional tensions.

Pressure on Tehran has intensified in recent days with the arrival of additional U.S. forces in the Gulf and the European Union’s designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Tehran called the decision ‘’senseless.’’ Western governments accuse the Guard of orchestrating the violent crackdown on mass protests in early January that left thousands dead.

Iran has warned it would respond immediately to any attack, stressing that numerous U.S. bases in the region are within range of Iranian missiles. It has also threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for global energy supplies.

The Revolutionary Guard is set to hold a live-fire naval exercise for two days beginning Sunday, according to U.S. Central Command, which warned against ‘’any dangerous or unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces.’’

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared in public Saturday for the first time since Jan. 17, visiting the mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, in southern Tehran. In a video posted on his official website, Khamenei was shown praying.

Emerging weakened from the June 2025 war, Iran’s government violently crushed recent protests that began in December over economic hardship and escalated on Jan. 8 into the most serious challenge to the Islamic Republic since its founding in 1979.

More than 6,500 people, including 6,170 protesters and 124 children, have been killed, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which is also investigating more than 17,000 additional potential deaths.

Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands died during the protests but say most were security forces or bystanders killed by what they describe as rioters.