Donald Trump disregarded threats made by Iranian top national security official, Ali Larijani, who on Saturday said that “Trump must pay” for the United States strikes on Iran.
“I have no idea what he is talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” Trump said in an interview with CBS News late Saturday evening, adding that Larijani has “already been defeated.”
Larijani serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a key body shaping foreign policy and security. The council includes Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, top military commanders and intelligence officials.
Trump and Iranian leaders have exchanged threatening comments since the start of this war, casting doubts on any diplomacy between the two sides in the near future, as regional leaders push for an end to the conflict that has already entered its ninth day.
“We will relentlessly avenge the blood of our leader and our people. Trump must pay and will pay,” Larijani said on X on Saturday.
He has emerged as a prominent figure post the death of Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war.
Pushing back on similar statement from other Iranian leaders, Trump reiterated that US strikes on Iran will continue as he calls for an “unconditional surrender.”
Meanwhile, the US leader has not ruled out US troops on the ground. On Saturday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that it is a possibility for a “very good reason.”
“Could there be? Possibly, for a very good reason. If we ever did that, they [Iran] would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight on the ground,” he said.
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