‘This time we’ll treat any attack as an all-out war against us,’ senior Iran official threatens

By Reuters 24 January 2026, 2:39 am

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Traffic rolls along a main throughfare under a banner with images of past and present leaders that reads in Farsi, 'Domino fall,' as daily life returns to the streets following nationwide protests, in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 19, 2026. (Atta Kenare/AFP)

Iran will treat any attack “as an all-out war against us,” a senior Iranian official says ahead of the arrival of a US military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets in the Middle East region in the coming days.

“This military buildup — 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,” says the senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“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,” the official says.