US navy heads to Iran as Tehran threatens "lethal" response

Diplomatic tensions between the United States and Iran are escalating as Tehran responds to the approach of a substantial US naval deployment with increasingly combative rhetoric. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by multiple destroyers and warplanes, is set to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days, Iran International reports.

“We have a big force going toward Iran,” US President Donald Trump said on January 22. “I’d rather not see anything happen, but we will see. We are watching them very closely. We have an armada, we have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”

The strike group has been en route from the Asia-Pacific region even as Trump has spoken publicly about potential negotiations following Iran’s violent suppression of domestic protests, which has resulted in thousands of deaths.

In Tehran, the tone from elements of Iran’s military establishment has been notably defiant, with senior officials suggesting war may be politically advantageous, potentially overshadowing the domestic unrest.

“We are preparing for a fateful war with Israel. We possess weapons no one else has,” said Yahya Rahim Safavi, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “The next war will end this conflict once and for all.”

Ali Abdollahi, another senior IRGC commander, warned that any attack on Iranian territory or interests would make US installations, bases, and centres of influence “legitimate and accessible targets.” Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Pakpour echoed the sentiment, declaring Iran prepared for all eventualities, “including an all-out war.”

Tehran’s diplomatic messaging has remained more restrained but equally accusatory. On January 22, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of instigating unrest inside Iran and cautioned that an all-out confrontation would be “messy, ferocious and far longer” than Israel or its allies anticipate.

Trump, meanwhile, has publicly signaled both restraint and readiness. Earlier in the week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he noted that he had pulled back from a planned strike after Iran reportedly halted plans to execute hundreds of detainees. “Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk,” he said. Yet aboard Air Force One later, the president reminded reporters that military action remained an option.

Iranian officials, perhaps mindful of prior US-Israeli strikes last June occurring during negotiations, appear to have drawn their own conclusions. IRGC general-turned-lawmaker Esmail Kowsari warned that in the event of “any US mistake, its bases in West Asia will be targeted.” He added that Tehran’s response would be “lethal and deterrent,” with US regional bases among the primary targets.

Meanwhile, former and current IRGC commanders publicly taunted President Trump, claiming he is “all talk” and has “picked the wrong path” on Iran.

Former and current senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say US President Donald Trump is “all talk” and has “picked the wrong path” on Iran, when asked by a state-television reporter to deliver a one-line message. pic.twitter.com/PBywTclIyE

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 23, 2026

A video shared by state television featured IRGC Aerospace Chief Majid Mousavi, IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri, and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a top IRGC general.

By Vafa Guliyeva