Iran’s latest warning to retaliate “with everything we have” if the United States launches new military strikes is not a surprise. It is the predictable result of years of half-measures, muddled deterrence, and a foreign policy that tried to manage Tehran instead of confronting what its regime really is.
In a recent op-ed, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that protests in Iran began peacefully but were hijacked by “foreign and domestic terrorist actors.” He accused the United States of exploiting unrest and blamed President Donald Trump’s rhetoric for escalating violence.
Abbas Aragchi is the voice of a regime that is committing democide, killing 16,000+ people in the last two weeks alone.
— Pink4iran🎗️ (@pink4iran) January 18, 2026
He does not represent Iran. He is a criminal. Davos should not give him a platform.
All decent people must protest his presence.@wef @borgebrende pic.twitter.com/fjTmyXpVho
This is the standard script of the Islamic Republic. When thousands of Iranians take to the streets and risk their lives, the regime does not see citizens demanding accountability. It sees foreign plots. It shuts down the internet, blames outsiders, and insists that the real problem is Washington, not the men giving orders in Tehran.
This is Iran's regime's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in Iraq. Ironic; for 40 years, they told women hijab is about “modesty.” But when there’s an airstrike warning, suddenly it’s not so much about modesty as it is about not getting blown up. Yes, they don’t believe in… pic.twitter.com/lR8RR58Frx
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) August 14, 2025
Araghchi also issued a threat that Iran’s armed forces would respond with full force to any renewed American attack, warning of a wider regional conflict. That message is aimed less at the Pentagon and more at Western politicians and commentators who instinctively fear escalation more than they fear a terror-sponsoring regime consolidating power.
ALSO SEE: Secret Service Now Alert Due to Iran's Assassination Threat
Pres. Trump Calmly Lays Out the Harsh Truth on Iran's 'Leadership' After New Taunts by Khamenei
For years, the United States and its allies have tried to walk a narrow line with Iran, punishing it just enough to signal disapproval but not enough to break its sense of impunity. Sanctions are eased, then tightened. Red lines are declared, then blurred. Limited strikes are followed by calls for “restraint.” The result is a leadership in Tehran that believes it can crush protesters at home, arm proxies abroad, and still lecture the West about “respect.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued his clearest warning yet to the United States, saying, “We will respond with everything we have.” pic.twitter.com/kvJxxtRqkw
— War Report (@SheikhSaab59733) January 21, 2026
The statistics coming out of Iran’s latest unrest are staggering. A human rights group that tracks abuses in the country reports thousands of protesters killed, including children, and tens of thousands arrested across hundreds of demonstrations. Those are not the marks of a government that is misunderstood. They are the marks of a government that fears its own people.
Iranians do not need more statements about “both sides” showing restraint. They need clarity about who is doing the killing and who is being killed. When the United Nations convenes a special session on Iran’s human rights crisis, the question should not be whether the regime has gone too far this time. The question should be why the world keeps acting surprised when it does exactly what its record says it will do.
A serious conservative foreign policy begins with moral and strategic clarity. Iran’s rulers are responsible for the blood in the streets. They respond to strength, not flattery. They read hesitation as an invitation, not as diplomacy.
That does not mean rushing into war. It does mean rebuilding credible deterrence, keeping sanctions pressure real and targeted, supporting Iranians who are risking everything for basic freedoms, and refusing to reward Tehran with concessions every time it rattles its saber.
The choice is not between endless conflict and endless indulgence. It is between a policy that treats Iran’s regime as a normal government and one that recognizes it as what its own actions reveal. The more Washington blurs that line, the more confident Tehran becomes in issuing threats about using “everything we have” against a country that still has far more power and far more moral authority than it sometimes remembers to use.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member