An attack on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would spark a jihad, Iran’s national security parliamentary commission said on Tuesday.
“Any attack on the Supreme Leader means a declaration of war with the entire Islamic world and must await the issuance of a jihad decree by Islamic scholars and the response of Islam’s soldiers in all parts of the world,” Iran’s parliamentary commission said, according to Reuters, citing an Iranian Students News Agency report.
The threat follows one by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday that a strike on Khamenei is “tantamount to an all-out war” against the country.
His comments came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump called for “new leadership in Iran.”
“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people. His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership,” Trump told Politico, reacting to a series of tweets by Khamenei.
Trump has urged demonstrators to “keep protesting” and threatened military action if the regime’s security forces use lethal force against them.
U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that the president was still pressing aides for what he called “decisive” military options.
It was reported that the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group left the South China Sea on Sunday. Media outlets have said the group had been ordered to the Middle East, though the Pentagon and U.S. Navy have not confirmed it, according to USNI News, the U.S. Naval Institute’s online site.
America is directing other assets to the region. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) posted to its X feed on Tuesday an image of a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter assigned to the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron landing at an undisclosed base in the Middle East on Jan. 18.
“The F-15’s presence enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability,” the tweet said.
The F-15E has a bomb capacity of 23,000 lbs.
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands at a base in the Middle East, Jan. 18. The F-15's presence enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability. pic.twitter.com/QTXgOsOozV
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 20, 2026
Iran has previously threatened to strike Israel and U.S. military installations if attacked.
If the Islamic Republic attacks Israel, Jerusalem “will act with might that Iran has not seen before,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
“We are closely following what is happening in Iran,” Netanyahu told the Knesset. “No one can predict what tomorrow will bring in Iran, but one thing is clear: No matter what happens—Iran will not return to being what it was.”
Death toll based on individual reports
Khamenei publicly acknowledged on Saturday that “several thousand” people have been killed in nationwide protests that began on Dec. 28, while attributing the deaths and damage to “those linked to Israel and the U.S.”
Estimates of the number of protesters murdered by the regime’s forces range from a few thousand to tens of thousands, with the full picture difficult to determine amid a government-imposed internet shutdown that began on Jan. 8.
The Human Rights Activists New Agency (HRANA) reported on Sunday that 3,919 people have been killed, including 3,685 protesters, with an additional 8,949 deaths still under investigation.
Some 2,109 people have been seriously wounded, and the number of confirmed detainees has risen to 24,669.
“These figures are based solely on verified individual reports. Given the internet shutdown, communication restrictions and limited independent access to information, the actual numbers are likely significantly higher than reported,” HRANA said.
The protests, the largest since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, have spread to nearly every province in the country. What began as anger over a spiraling currency has widened into open calls to end clerical rule.
