Iran’s foreign minister warned on social media that any new war would come “with far more surprises,” after Donald Trump said the United States had been “on the verge of launching a massive assault on Iran” before he halted it “at the request of regional leaders.”
Abbas Araghchi posted the message on X and said Tehran had learned “new lessons” from the recent war, making clear that any renewed clash with the United States or its allies would look different from the last one.
The warning carried extra weight because Araghchi also repeated a claim that Iran’s armed forces had shot down advanced F-35 fighter jets during the recent war, saying they would be the first military in the world to successfully target the aircraft. That claim has not been verified by independent sources, but Araghchi pointed to damage he said was inflicted on U.S. military hardware as part of his case that Iran had already absorbed lessons from the fighting.
The exchange is the latest response to Trump’s threats about possibly resuming military strikes against Iran. His remarks yesterday raised the temperature again by suggesting a U.S. attack had been close before regional leaders intervened, while Araghchi’s post was written to signal that Tehran is not simply replaying old warnings.
What is unresolved now is whether the rhetoric is meant only to deter Washington or whether both sides are drifting back toward the kind of confrontation that makes these claims harder to dismiss. Araghchi’s message was blunt, and it was aimed at the same audience Trump was trying to reach: everyone who would have to live with the consequences if the threats turn into action.
