<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Top Iranian official Ali Larijani has stressed that his country is prepared to confront a possible invasion from the United States, pledging to capture and kill US troops if they enter the country.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s statement comes as US officials, including President Donald Trump, refuse to rule out deploying forces inside Iran.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Larijani, who serves as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, warned that such actions would have dire consequences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome American officials have stated that they intend to enter Iranian territory on the ground with several thousand troops,\u201d Larijani said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>He then added a pointed reference to Iran\u2019s former supreme leaders, Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, the latter of whom was killed on Saturday in a joint US-Israeli strike.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe valiant sons of Imam Khomeini and Imam Khamenei are waiting for you, ready to disgrace those corrupt American officials by killing and capturing thousands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Larijani, who was a close adviser to the assassinated supreme leader, is believed to be one of the most powerful figures in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed Larijani\u2019s remark on Thursday, saying that Iran is not afraid of a possible US invasion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, we are waiting for them,\u201d Araghchi told NBC News, adding that a ground offensive would be a \u201cbig disaster\u201d for US troops.<\/p>\n<p>Israel and the US have dropped thousands of bombs on Iran since the latest conflict began on Saturday, and Tehran has responded with missile and drone attacks across the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has said that the war is proceeding better than expected, with the US and Israel in control of Iran\u2019s skies and striking the country with no reprieve.<\/p>\n<p>But Tehran has projected defiance, vowing to continue fighting to avenge Khamenei and repel the US and Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not negotiate with the United States,\u201d Larijani said earlier this week.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"venezuela-as-a-model-for-iran\">Venezuela as a model for Iran?<\/h2>\n<p>In the aftermath of Khamenei\u2019s death, there have been few signs that Iran\u2019s new leadership is willing to work with Washington.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump has nevertheless expressed a desire to see Iran\u2019s government follow the model set by his January 3 attack on Venezuela, which involved<span style=\"font-size:22px\"> replacing the head of state with a figure who is friendly to the US.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In Venezuela, US forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and transported him to the US for trial. Within days, Maduro was succeeded by his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, with the backing of the US.<\/p>\n<p>Rodriguez has since been cooperating with the US, including by allowing the Trump administration to sell millions of barrels of Venezuela\u2019s oil. The rest of Venezuela\u2019s government, meanwhile, has remained largely intact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect, the perfect scenario,\u201d Trump told The New York Times on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Trump added that he would like to be \u201cinvolved in the appointment\u201d of Khamenei\u2019s successor, like he had been \u201cwith Delcy in Venezuela\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also voiced opposition to Mojtaba Khamenei, the slain supreme leader\u2019s son, who is believed to be one of the frontrunners to succeed his father as head of state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKhamenei\u2019s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,\u201d the US president told Axios.<\/p>\n<p>The next supreme leaders will be chosen by a body of religious scholars known as the Council of Experts.<\/p>\n<p>Later on Wednesday, Araghchi warned Trump that the plan for a quick military victory against Iran has failed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour Plan B will be even bigger failure,\u201d Araghchi wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>He then questioned whether Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d platform was prioritising US priorities \u2014 or Israel\u2019s. The foreign minister also blamed the Trump administration for scuttling recent negotiations to deescalate tensions between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe truth: Chance for unique deal burned after the \u2018America Last\u2019 cabal obscured \u2018significant progress\u2019 we made in negotiations. \u2018Israel First\u2019 always means \u2018America Last\u2019,\u201d Araghchi wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva days before the Trump administration and Israel launched the war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Top Iranian official Ali Larijani has stressed that his country is prepared to confront a possible invasion from the United States, pledging to capture and kill US troops if they enter the country. Thursday\u2019s statement comes as US officials, including President Donald Trump, refuse to rule out deploying forces […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}