WW3 ALERT: Iran Threatens ‘Strikes Will Be Met With Force’ After US-led Syria Attacks

Iran has issued a chilling new warning to the United States an allied forces which allegedly coordinated an attack on Syria on Sunday. Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has warned that attacks on Iranian military bases by the US or its allies will not be tolerated and will be met with “firm force.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, has launched a blistering verbal attack against the US in the wake of missile strikes on Syrian bases in Hama and Aleppo on Sunday night, according to The Daily Star.  In a bellicose speech on Monday, Khamenei accused the US of causing a “regional crisis” in the Middle East by creating “instability” that has “brought misery to people.”

The Syrian government says that rockets struck several military bases outside of Hama and Aleppo in new “aggression” by unidentified enemies. “Syria is being exposed to a new aggression with some military bases in rural Hama and Aleppo hit with enemy rockets,” an army source reported to state television, according to TelesurTV. The state news agency says the source of the blasts is being investigated by authorities.

Missiles struck a number of Syrian military facilities in strikes that a UK-based war monitor said killed at least 26 troops, many of whom were Iranians.  Iran will respond in kind to missile strikes on any of its bases in Syria or elsewhere, Khamenei was quoted as saying by Israeli state media.  “The era of ‘hit and run’ attacks has ended, and from now on attacks will be met with firm force,” Khamenei said just hours after the missile attack on Syria that has been blamed on Israel, the US, and Britain.

Allegations RAF jets were involved were denied by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) but the US military is yet to comment. According to Russian, Syrian, and Iranian media reports, Sunday’s strike on military bases in Hama and Aleppo appears to have been carried out by Israel, which has been accused of bombing Iranian military bases in the past, most recently on Syria’s T4 air base earlier this month.

“All these reports over [an] attack on an Iranian military base in Syria and the martyrdom of several Iranian military advisers in Syria are baseless,” an official told Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Iran Urges Russia To Ditch The Dollar, Isolate America

Iran has suggested isolating the US by ditching the dollar during a meeting yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran.

Remonstrating against US threats to impose new sanctions and cancel the nuclear agreement, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei branded the US an enemy and urged Moscow to completely sever ties with the US currency:

"By ignoring the negative propaganda of the enemies, that seek to weaken relations between countries, we can nullify US sanctions, using methods such as eliminating the dollar and replacing it with national currencies in transactions between two or more parties; thus, isolate the Americans.”

As The Express reports, Putin met Iranian political leaders in an effort to nurture a warming relationship strengthened since Donald Trump recently threatened to abandon the international nuclear deal with Iran reached in 2015.

The Russian premier criticised American interference in the region and described his country’s warm relations with Tehran. Despite the sanctions, Putin said:

“We devoted our funds to scientific and technological progress, and we had significant growth in the fields of biotechnology, IT, agriculture and space industries. Now, in spite of the initial concerns, we have realised that we can do whatever we decide to.”

Khamenei wants to step up cooperation to enable peace in the Middle East, Iranian state TV reported.

During the meeting with Putin, Khameini said:

"Full resolution of Syria"s crisis needs strong cooperation between Iran and Russia. Our cooperation can isolate America. This cooperation will restore stability in the region.”

Mr Putin praised cooperation with Iran as "very productive," adding that "we are managing to coordinate our positions on the Syrian issue."

Ayatollah Blasts Trump's "Rants And Whoppers", Says Iran Will "Shred" Deal If US Pulls Out

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who famously waited three months before offering a tepid endorsement of the JCPOA – largely echoed the threats of other Iranian government officials when he said Wednesday that Iran would adhere to the terms of the deal if other world powers respected it, but would “shred it” if the US were to pull out.

Speaking publicly about the future of the deal for the first time since President Donald Trump refused to decertify it five days ago, Khamenei confirmed that Iran would likely terminate the deal – and restart its nuclear program – if the US Congress decides to unilaterally rule that Iran is not in compliance, opening the door to reimposing sanctions.

The ayatollah’s proclamation puts Iran at odds with the deals other signatories, who’ve maintained that the US doesn’t have the power to terminate a multilateral accord certified by the United Nations. Khamenei welcomed the support of the other signers - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union – but said it would not be enough to convince Iran to stay, Reuters reported.

“Europe must stand against practical measures (taken) by America,” he said. If Trump ditched the deal, “Iran will shred it”.

US lawmakers and President Donald Trump are presently pushing for a bill that would recertify the deal with one important caveat: Iran would be subject to “triggers” – like continued ballistic missile tests or evidence that it could build a nuclear weapon within a year’s time. Violating these conditions would lead to sanctions automatically being reimposed.

However, Khamenei also vowed to continue Iran’s ballistic missile program, which the country claims is strictly for defensive purposes, suggesting that Iran wouldn’t brook the additional restrictions being considered by the US Congress.

"Or to ask why Iran has missiles - well, why do you have missiles? Why do you have nuclear weapons? We will not accept the Europeans going along with America"s bullying."

The ayatollah also dismissed Trump"s attacks on Iran as "rants and whoppers", adding that Iran will continue to abide by its commitments under the nuclear deal.

"I don"t want to waste my time on answering the rants and whoppers of the brute US president," Khamenei said in a speech to students in Tehran, published on his Telegram channel.

The ayatollah insisted that ultimately Iran would prevail in its struggle against the US, adding that it would be unwise to underestimate the threat posed by the US because of Trump’s buffoonish persona.  

"Everyone be assured that this time, too, America will be slapped and defeated by the nation of Iran."

Khamenei said the world should not be fooled by Trump"s public persona.

"The US president displays stupidity, but this should not cause us to ignore America"s mischief," he said.

The Trump administration has pushed for a more aggressive approach to Iran’s missile program, repeatedly insisting that, while Iran is technically complying with the terms of the pact, it is more broadly violating the “spirit” of the agreement by continuing to test missiles and (allegedly) fund terrorist groups, AFP reported.

While the US has worked itself into a lather over the Iranian missile program, the regime amusingly “punked” their American adversaries last month when they tested what was purported to be a new type of medium range ballistic missile. Intelligence sources initially trusted the Iranian media reports, but later government sources determined that Iran had never actually fired a missile, and that the footage was from a failed launch seven months ago.

On Monday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Monday that the US would face stiff consequences if it withdraws from the JCPA – informally known as the Iran deal. He added that Iran "had a developed plan and a certain law,” should the United States withdraw from the agreement on Tehran"s nuclear program, adding that Washington would "regret it."