Iran’s parliament speaker warns of unexpected response to any attack

• Iran’s parliament speaker has warned of an “unexpected response” to any attack on the country’s territorial integrity.
• Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would not back down under threats or allow foreign powers to dictate its decisions.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has warned that Tehran is prepared to deliver an “unexpected response” to any attack on the country’s territorial integrity, rejecting threats of a wider war and targeted assassinations.

“We will not be intimidated and are prepared for an unexpected response to any aggression against our territorial integrity,” Ghalibaf said in remarks attributed to him.

He added that threats of an all-out war or assassinations would not force the Iranian people to abandon their rights and interests.

Ghalibaf said Iran would not consider US claims credible as long as Washington failed to fulfill its commitments in a tangible manner, change its conduct and abandon what he described as its ambitions.

“We will not allow any foreign power to dictate matters to our country,” he said.

The Iranian parliament speaker also rejected suggestions that Tehran had changed its position, arguing that Washington had drawn itself into the crisis through what he described as miscalculations and war.

He said the United States must take the necessary steps to find a way out of the crisis.

Ghalibaf has previously warned that any renewed aggression against Iran would prompt a swift and forceful response.