Tehran, Washington raise stakes with fresh wave of threats

Tehran and Washington have taken their exchange of threats to a new level, with the US president raising the prospect of bombing Iran and Tehran not only vowing to retaliate but also threatening to build nuclear weapons.

Iran’s threats have also included the far-fetched idea of targeting the US base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean—a claim dismissed by military analysts, who argue that Iran lacks the capability to strike such distant targets. Still, Iran’s defense doctrine is rooted in asymmetrical warfare, and its commanders have often warned they could strike in unexpected ways.

Following Khamenei’s sharp response to Trump’s threat, Iran’s air force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh noted that there are dozens of US targets within close range in the Persian Gulf region.

As tensions rose further, senior Khamenei adviser Ali Larijani suggested that Trump’s threats could push Iran toward building nuclear weapons. That message was quickly echoed by hardline MP Ahmad Naderi, a member of the parliament’s presidium, who argued that nuclear weapons have secured North Korea’s safety—and questioned why Iran should not follow the same path.

Larijani’s statement, however, carried a different weight. He has long been seen as a measured political figure—unlike the more impulsive military commanders or obscure ultraconservative lawmakers. As speaker of Iran’s parliament (Majles) for 12 years and one of the key architects of the 2015 nuclear deal with the West, Larijani played a central role in shaping Iran’s diplomacy. Hardliners still recall, often with resentment, how he pushed the JCPOA agreement through a predominantly hardline parliament in just 20 minutes.

At the same time, Larijani is a US-educated politician and a former IRGC officer, trusted by Khamenei both for his background and his lineage—he is the son of one of Iran’s highest-ranking clerics. He once oversaw Tehran’s nuclear file and only stepped down as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council due to a personality clash with ultraconservative former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By allowing someone like Larijani to voice support for building nuclear weapons, Khamenei revealed one of the key complexities of Iranian politics. He is signaling to both Trump and the Iranian public that pressure to pursue the bomb is coming not just from hardline agitators in parliament, but also from figures seen as moderate and pragmatic. In doing so, he effectively sidelines his much-publicized fatwa banning nuclear weapons—though few ever believed it was an absolute or irreversible stance.

At the same time, Larijani’s statement—as a politician who often echoes Khamenei’s broader policy positions—renders previous threats about Iran leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) largely redundant. Once a country openly talks about building a nuclear bomb, it effectively signals its departure from the NPT, regardless of any formal announcement.

In a commentary on Larijani’s statement, Nour News—a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council—wrote on Tuesday that Trump’s talk of bombing Iran has triggered serious concerns about national security. According to the commentary, this growing anxiety could shift public opinion in favor of changing Iran’s nuclear policy. It added that the United States should be held accountable for accelerating Iran’s potential turn toward developing nuclear weapons.

Nour News quoted Larijani as warning that any US or Israeli military strike aimed at ending Iran’s nuclear program could instead push Tehran toward the very path it has so far avoided.

The outlet also claimed that with the backing of Russia and China, Iran is no longer isolated on the international stage. Echoing Larijani’s remarks, it suggested that Yemen is now capable of responding to US aggression in ways that would prove costly for Washington and its allies.

According to Nour News, “The United States now faces two choices: either continue its hostile behavior and drag the region into an unprecedented security crisis, or change course to ease rising tensions.” The commentary added that Trump’s threats risk further complicating the situation, noting that “Iran has many options to defend its national security.” It concluded by stating that “Iran’s final decision will depend on future US actions.”

Meanwhile, Larijani’s brother-in-law, Ali Motahari, told the press that “there is nothing wrong with negotiating with the United States.” He went further, saying that “President Massoud Pezeshkian should have accepted Trump’s offer to negotiate”—though he did not mention that Pezeshkian lacked Khamenei’s approval to do so at the time.