THE NEW YORK TIMES: De facto leader says Iran will not surrender or stop its attacks

Iran’s top national security official, speaking on national television as the war entered a second week, said Tehran would not surrender or let up on retaliatory strikes and vowed to hold President Donald Trump responsible for killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a close confidant of Khamenei, said Iran was determined to avenge the killing of the leader, who died Feb. 28 on the first day of the U.S.-Israel campaign of airstrikes against Iran. Larijani said the United States “must pay the price.”

“Americans must know that we will not let them go,” Larijani said. “Our people are with us. Our leadership is united. There is no division in fighting Israel and America.”

After the death of Khamenei, a three-person council comprising Iran’s president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist were placed in charge, following the constitution’s directives for succession. But Larijani is widely acknowledged as Khamenei’s preferred caretaker of the government as the top authority in national security and foreign policy.

Khamenei turned to Larijani earlier in the year amid nationwide protests that convulsed Iran for weeks and snowballed into a broader anti-government movement. Iran’s government crushed the protests with lethal force, killing at least 7,000 people, according to rights groups.

In his comments Saturday, Larijani sought to reassure Iran’s citizens and enemies alike that the country’s leadership was united in the war effort.

Earlier in the day, some divisions appeared to surface following a video message by Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian. He apologized to Arab countries in the Persian Gulf for the wave of retaliatory attacks they have faced from Iran and pledged to stop. Later in the day, he walked back his comments, after facing criticism from hard-line elements in the Iranian government.

Trump, however, appeared to take credit for pressuring Iran into contrition, saying in a social media post that Tehran had “surrendered to its Middle East neighbors.” However, Trump added, Iran would have to surrender to him in order for the war to end, saying there would be “no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

Larijani, a pragmatic veteran politician, also sought to counter the president’s comments, responding to a backlash from conservatives accusing Pezeshkian of appearing weak.

Khamenei had sidelined the president when he authorized Larijani to take over running the country and steer it during a time of crisis in early January when protests erupted across Iran and Trump threatened military attacks.

“When the enemy attacks us from military bases in the region, we will respond; this is our right and our policy,” Larijani said. “We don’t want the region to be destabilised, but the essence of this war will destabilise the region.”

As Larijani spoke on state media, multiple explosions rocked the capital Tehran and neighbouring city Karaj, and residents said they could see huge balls of fire and smoke billowing in the air.

Iran’s Ministry of Oil said in a statement that Israel had struck multiple oil depots belonging to the ministry in Tehran and Karaj. Israel’s military confirmed the attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced it had launched a new wave of attacks on Israel, targeting a refinery in Haifa, in retaliation for attacks on Iran’s oil industry. Earlier Saturday, Iran launched drone attacks on a hotel in a marina in the United Arab Emirates, a building it said belonged to Warner Bros., and a seaport in Bahrain. The Guard said the U.S. military was using the hotel and the seaport as a logistics hub for attacks on Iran.

Larijani said the United States waged a war on Iran to split it apart and instigate civil unrest but that it had failed. He urged Trump to “accept he made a mistake and was fooled by Israel.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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