The Iranian president called the attack on the supreme leader equivalent to the start of a war.

Iranian President Masoud Peseshkian said on January 18 that any attack on the country's supreme leader Ali Khamenei would be tantamount to a full-scale war against the Islamic Republic.

"An attack on the supreme leader is tantamount to a full—scale war against Iran," Peseshkian wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

He also stated that "all the troubles of the Iranian people" come from "the anti-human sanctions of the US government and its allies."

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The 47th president is trying to achieve political victories by the 2026 congressional elections.

During a meeting with ambassadors of other countries on January 12, the head of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araqchi, said that the authorities had taken control of the situation with the protests that broke out in the country in early 2026. A day earlier, the head of the republic's national police, Sardar Ahmadreza Radan, also reported on the arrests of several leaders of anti-government uprisings, during which, according to the Reuters news agency, at least 538 people could have died.

Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said on January 15 that the Iranian authorities had managed to establish a dialogue with society, which caused the protests to subside.

On January 17, the head of the regional police department, Hossein Hasanpour, said that 50 organizers of public riots had been arrested in Gilan province, located in the north of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.