Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a blunt message to the White House on Tuesday evening, warning that Iran has “no qualms” about hitting back with full force if a nation strikes Iran over its crackdown on protesters.

Araghchi’s comments come as the latest escalation in a push-and-pull of rhetoric between the Iranian regime and the Trump administration over Tehran’s brutal crackdown on protesters that has reportedly killed tens of thousands of Iranians. As the United States sends an aircraft carrier to the Middle East as tensions escalate, Araghchi wrote an opinion editorial saying that the “final failure of diplomacy” looms over the situation.

“Unlike the restraint Iran showed in June 2025, our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack,” Araghchi wrote in the Wall Street Journal op-ed, referring to the June 2025 U.S. strikes on its nuclear infrastructure.

He said the message “isn’t a threat, but a reality,” telling the Trump administration to “try respect” when dealing with Iran’s regime.

“Iran’s message to President Trump is clear: The U.S. has tried every conceivable hostile act against Iran, from sanctions and cyber assaults to outright military attack—and, most recently, it clearly fanned a major terrorist operation—all of which failed. It is time to think differently. Try respect, which will allow us to advance farther than one may believe,” Araghchi wrote.

In a Tuesday night interview, President Donald Trump sounded off on recent threats from Iranian officials to his own life in a NewsNation interview. He warned that if the Middle Eastern country ever follows through on the assassination threats it has dangled, the U.S. would “wipe them off the face of this Earth.”

“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it, but I’ve left notification. Anything ever happens … the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said.

Trump was responding to several threats from Iran to his life, including a recent one from the Iranian state TV.

Trump has also made it clear that U.S. “help is on the way” to the Iranian protesters, as the U.S. reportedly moves aircraft and refueling tankers toward the Middle East.

Following his statement that Iran would fire “back with everything we have” if attacked, Araghchi said, “I abhor war,” and that he hopes to prevent it.

“An all-out confrontation will certainly be ferocious and drag on far, far longer than the fantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House. It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe. I will do anything in my power to prevent that scenario from materializing,” Araghchi wrote.

Araghchi previously said that the regime is “not looking for war, but we are prepared for war,” in mid-January. The World Economic Forum pulled Araghchi’s invite from Davos this week over what they called “the tragic loss of lives of civilians” amid the government’s deadly protest crackdown.