Iran will treat any attack “as an all-out war against us”, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, ahead of the arrival of an American aircraft carrier strike group and other military assets in the Middle East in the coming days.
“This military build-up – we hope it is not intended for real confrontation but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
“This time we will treat any attack – limited, unlimited, surgical, kinetic, whatever they call it – as an all-out war against us, and we will respond in the hardest way possible to settle this.”
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US had an “armada” heading towards Iran but hoped he would not have to use it, as he renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme.
The US staged a major military build-up in the Middle East last year before joining Israel’s war on Iran, carrying out strikes on its nuclear facilities in June.
In recent days, the Pentagon has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers to the region. The vessels left the South China Sea and began heading west earlier this week, according to a navy official, adding that it was in the Indian Ocean.
Those warships would join three littoral combat ships, which were in port in Bahrain on Friday as well as two other US destroyers, which were at sea in the Persian Gulf.
The arrival of the carrier strike group would bring roughly 5,700 additional service members. The US has several bases in the Middle East, including Al Udeid in Qatar, which hosts thousands of American troops and is the forward headquarters for US Central Command.
“If the Americans violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond,” the Iranian official said. He declined to specify what an Iranian response might look like.
“A country under constant military threat from the United States has no option but to ensure that everything at its disposal can be used to push back and, if possible, restore balance against anyone who dares to attack Iran,” the official said.
