Iran will retaliate 'with everything we have' if US attacks, senior diplomat warns

Iran

Iran will retaliate 'with everything we have' if US attacks, senior diplomat warns

Abbas Araghchi blames US rhetoric for escalating bloodshed as protest death toll rises

Ashley Carnahan Fox News

Published

January 21, 2026 7:44am EST

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Iranian foreign minister warns Trump not to 'repeat the same mistake'

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi wants President Donald Trump to seek diplomacy as he mulls intervention in deadly protests on 'Special Report.'

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Iran warned it would respond "with everything we have" to any new U.S. military attack, accusing Washington and its allies of exploiting recent unrest to push the region toward a wider war.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said protests in Iran began peacefully before being hijacked by "foreign and domestic terrorist actors," prompting a violent crackdown and near-total internet and communications shutdown.

He blamed U.S. rhetoric for escalating the bloodshed, arguing that warnings from President Donald Trump created incentives for mass violence.

While insisting Iran prefers diplomacy, Araghchi cautioned that future attacks would trigger a far more forceful response and risk igniting a prolonged regional conflict.

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Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi speaks with Fox News' Bret Baier.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi waits for the arrival of his Qatari counterpart before their meeting in Tehran on Aug. 26, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

"As Iranians grieve their loved ones and rebuild what has been destroyed, another threat looms: the final failure of diplomacy. Unlike the restraint Iran showed in June 2025, our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack," he said.

"Iran’s message to President Trump is clear: The U.S. has tried every conceivable hostile act against Iran, from sanctions and cyber assaults to outright military attack—and, most recently, it clearly fanned a major terrorist operation—all of which failed. It is time to think differently. Try respect, which will allow us to advance farther than one may believe."

Trump is weighing military action against Tehran, with U.S. assets moving into the region amid international scrutiny over a crackdown that has killed thousands of anti-government protesters.

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A man examines the charred remains of a public bus placed in an open plaza.

An Iranian man looks at a bus burned during recent anti-government unrest, displayed in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which tracks human rights violations in Iran, said on Tuesday that nationwide protests continued into the 24th day.

The group's aggregated figures showed 629 recorded protests, the arrest of at least 26,314 people and the confirmed deaths of 4,519 individuals.

HRANA said 4,251 of those killed were protesters, including 33 children under the age of 18.

The United Nations Human Rights Council announced it will hold a special session to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran on Friday.

Religious figures stand inside a damaged building with soot-stained walls.

Iranian clerics stand inside an Islamic seminary that was burned during protests in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via REUTERS)

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Iranian journalist Elaheh Mohammadi said on X that for the past day or two, VPN access has worked only sporadically for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, allowing brief internet connections to let people know they are still alive.

"The city smells of death. In all my life, I had never seen snow fall in Tehran and not a single person even smile," she wrote. "Hard days have passed and everyone is stunned; a whole country is in mourning, a whole country is holding back tears, a whole country has a lump in its throat."

Ashley Carnahan is a writer at Fox News Digital.

Iran will retaliate 'with everything we have' if US attacks, senior diplomat warns