As protests continued to grow across Iran on Tuesday, the country’s reestablished National Defense Council issued a statement that appeared to leave the door open to preemptive military action, warning that Tehran would not necessarily limit itself to retaliatory responses if it perceives concrete threats to its security.
In a statement published by state media in the afternoon, the council said that Iran’s “security, independence, and territorial integrity” constitute an “uncrossable redline,” and that any encroachment on those interests would be met with an “appropriate, targeted, and decisive response.”
“Within the framework of legitimate self-defense, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not consider itself limited to reacting after the action and considers objective signs of threat to be part of the security equation,” the statement said.
The message, while stopping short of naming specific adversaries, has raised questions over whether Tehran is signaling its readiness to carry out preemptive strikes against perceived enemies, including Israel or the United States, amid heightened tensions in the region following June’s 12-day war with Israel and the unrest inside Iran.
The Defense Council accused unnamed “long-standing enemies” of Iran of pursuing a “calculated approach aimed at the disintegration of beloved Iran” through escalating rhetoric and what it described as interventionist statements that violate international law. Such actions, it warned, “cannot be dismissed without response” and would carry consequences.
“The intensification of threatening rhetoric and interference, which goes beyond mere verbal posturing, can be interpreted as hostile conduct,” the statement said, adding that continued escalation would be met with a “proportionate, firm, and deterrent response,” with “full responsibility for the consequences” resting with those behind it.
The statement concluded with a Quranic verse often cited by Iranian officials in the context of retaliation: “So whoever transgresses against you, transgress against him in the same measure as he has transgressed against you.”
While the council did not explicitly reference Israel or the United States, the timing of the statement comes days after US President Donald Trump warned the Islamic Republic regime against violence toward protesters. In a January 2 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that if Iran “kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.” Several senior US officials have echoed similar warnings in recent weeks.
Protesters show signs, messages for Netanyahu
Videos posted from inside Iran during the 10 days of protests have shown Iranians with signs and messages for Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to take aim at Israeli “involvement” in the protests on Tuesday, when he posted on social media, “What makes the enemy first request a ceasefire during [the 12-day] war with the Iranian nation, then send messages saying he doesn’t want to fight us? Of course, the malicious enemy is a deceiving liar & we don’t trust them. But what causes this is the power of the Iranian nation.”
Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that statements from foreign leaders threatening action or encouraging demonstrations are tantamount to foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs. The Defense Council said that any action against Iran’s stability or sovereignty would be treated as hostile.
The National Defense Council itself was formally approved in August, in the aftermath of the Israel-Iran War, after decades of relative inactivity following the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
According to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the body is tasked with reviewing defense plans and enhancing the capabilities of Iran’s armed forces in a more coordinated manner.
The council is chaired by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and includes the heads of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, along with senior commanders from the armed forces and representatives from relevant ministries.