A high-ranking Iranian official said on Friday that Tehran will interpret any military offensive "as an all-out war against us," reported Reuters. This defiant statement precedes the scheduled arrival of a United States aircraft carrier strike group and supplementary military hardware in the Middle East. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran," the senior Iranian official told Reuters. While the United States military frequently deploys reinforcements to the Middle East as a deterrent during periods of friction, these maneuvers are generally characterized as defensive. "If the Americans violate Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond," said the Iranian official.

Source: Mint January 24, 2026 15:32 UTC