US Military Base, Commercial Infrastructure Are Legitimate Targets: Iran Warns White House Over Internal Unrest

Iran is blaming the United States for the two weeks of internal protests by its citizens and has warned White House that all of its military bases and commercial assets could become “legitimate targets” for Tehran if the US continues to meddle in its domestic affairs.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, in a direct threat to the US, said Tehran would not just react verbally to the US poking into Iranian internal matters, but would respond through military action.

“If the US takes military action towards Iran or the occupied territories, the US military and shipping centres will be considered legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not limit ourselves to only reacting after an action has been taken,” he added.

Why did Qalibaf issue the warning to the US?

The Iranian Parliament Speaker’s comments were a reaction to US President Donald J. Trump’s threats that his administration would attack Iran if it uses force to suppress the growing voices of unrest over the Iranian government’s governance failures.

“Iran’s in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible. We’re watching the situation very carefully,” the US President said.

“I made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people as they have in the past, we will get involved. We will be hitting them very hard where it hurts, and that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very hard where it hurts, so we don’t want that to happen,” Trump said.

How did Trump describe the Iranian situation?

“But this is something pretty incredible that is happening in Iran. It’s an amazing thing to watch. They’ve done a bad job; they have treated their people very badly, and now they are being paid back, so let’s see what happens,” Trump said.

“I just hope the protestors in Iran are going to be safe because it is a very dangerous place right now, and again I tell the Iranian leaders, you better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” he said.

What has Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei said about the protests?

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei charged the Trump administration with instigating the Iranian citizens’ protests. At a public event on Friday (January 9), Khamenei said the protesters were acting to please the US President.

“There are also those whose work is destruction. Last night in Tehran, and in some other places, a bunch of vandals came and destroyed a building belonging to their own country. For example, suppose they destroyed a certain building or a wall, just to please the President of America,” Khamenei said.

“Because he said… some irrelevant nonsense… that if the government of Iran does such and such, I will come to the side… I will take your side. The side of these rioters and individuals who are harmful to the country.

“These people have their hopes pinned on him. If he can, let him manage his own country! In his own country, various incidents are occurring,” Khamenei was reported as saying by Iranian state media.

The Iranian government attempted to defuse the domestic situation through strong security measures, and by announcing a monthly financial aid of $7 for each of the low-income citizens, who struggle to meet daily expenses.