By Gloria Ogbonna
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has placed blame for Iran’s deepening economic and social crises squarely on the United States, accusing Washington of enforcing what he described as “inhumane” sanctions while issuing a stark warning that any challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be treated as an act of war against the Iranian nation itself.
In a statement published Sunday in Persian, Pezeshkian sought to frame Iran’s internal turmoil as the direct result of foreign hostility rather than domestic governance. “If there is hardship and difficulties in the lives of the people of Iran, one of the main reasons is the longstanding enmity and inhumane sanctions imposed by the U.S. government and its allies,” he wrote.
He went on to issue a forceful threat, declaring, “An assault on our Supreme Leader is tantamount to an all-out war with the Iranian nation.”
The remarks underscore Tehran’s increasingly aggressive effort to rally public support around Ayatollah Khamenei while deflecting responsibility for widespread unrest and economic collapse onto external enemies chiefly the United States.
By elevating Khamenei as synonymous with the Iranian state, Pezeshkian’s comments reflect a broader strategy by the regime to portray any criticism or threat to its leadership as an existential attack on the country itself.
Critics were quick to point out what they described as glaring hypocrisy in Pezeshkian’s warning. Analysts and former U.S. officials noted that the Iranian regime has itself repeatedly targeted American leaders over the years, including alleged assassination plots against President Donald Trump and other current and former senior U.S. officials.
“Here the Iranian regime president warns that any aggression against the supreme leader would amount to war against the Islamic Republic. The fear is palpable,” wrote Iran analyst Jason Brodsky.
“But what he doesn’t tell you is that Iran’s regime has already tried to kill President Trump and multiple current and former U.S. officials.” Brodsky added that with such plots dating back decades the regime has effectively already declared war on the United States.
Former U.S. State Department official Len Khodorkovsky echoed that sentiment, questioning the regime’s narrative.
“The Islamic Republic’s president says any aggression on the mass-murdering Ayatollah Khamenei would mean war,” he wrote. “What do repeated attempts by the regime to assassinate a U.S. president amount to?”
Pezeshkian’s comments come amid nearly three weeks of widespread unrest inside Iran, accompanied by a sharp escalation in anti-American rhetoric from the country’s top leadership.
Over the weekend, Supreme Leader Khamenei himself directly accused President Trump of fomenting violent protests across Iran, declaring him “guilty” of causing mass casualties. Khamenei went further, proclaiming,
“The Iranian nation defeated the U.S.,” while warning that “the U.S. must be held accountable” and predicting that Trump would ultimately be “brought down.”
The unrest, which reportedly began with merchant strikes in Tehran, has since spread nationwide. Reports indicate that more than 16,000 protesters have been killed as Iranian authorities imposed sweeping internet blackouts, carried out mass arrests, and launched lethal crackdowns to suppress dissent.
Despite the regime’s insistence on blaming Washington, critics argue the upheaval stems primarily from years of economic mismanagement, political repression, and the government’s failure to stabilize Iran’s currency.
Under Khamenei’s rule, the rial has reportedly lost more than 20,000 times its value, devastating ordinary Iranians.
The US had made extensive preparations to orchestrate this sedition. This sedition was a prelude to even bigger schemes. The Iranian nation defeated the US.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 17, 2026
Pezeshkian’s warning also followed comments by former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who said he believed President Trump could consider moving to eliminate Ayatollah Khamenei in the coming days.
Just one day earlier, President Trump publicly called for “new leadership” in Iran, sharply rebuking Khamenei after the Supreme Leader accused him of inciting unrest. “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump said, arguing that the country’s decay is the result of catastrophic governance rather than foreign pressure.
As tensions continue to escalate, Washington has begun backing its rhetoric with concrete action on both military and economic fronts. On Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed the redeployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East.
Defense officials described the move as part of a broader repositioning of U.S. combat power, aimed at ensuring rapid response capability as regional threats grow and instability inside Iran deepens.
That show of military force has been matched by an intensified economic campaign targeting Iran’s ruling elite. Also on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sweeping new sanctions against senior regime officials and regime-linked financial networks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Iran:
What we are now seeing is the rats fleeing the ship.
We can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, smuggled out by the Iranian leadership.
They are abandoning ship, we are seeing this happen. pic.twitter.com/UuRvXaGs98
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 15, 2026
Bessent warned that Iran’s leaders are “like rats fleeing a sinking ship,” accusing them of attempting to move tens of millions of dollars abroad while blaming Washington for the consequences of their own repression and refusal to curb illicit nuclear activity.
Together, the escalating rhetoric, internal unrest, and mounting U.S. pressure suggest a rapidly deteriorating standoff one in which Iran’s leadership is increasingly on the defensive, even as it seeks to project defiance both at home and abroad.
Source Breitbart
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