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Iran vows mass retaliation to attack, taunts Europe over US Greenland push

Jan 21, 2026, 15:45 GMT+0Updated: 18:30 GMT+0
A missile is test-fired from an unspecified location in Iran
A missile is test-fired from an unspecified location in Iran

Iran's foreign minister said the country was prepared to show no restraint in retaliating to any military attack and mocked Europe about its standoff with the United States over President Donald Trump's push to control Greenland.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have flared in the wake of the deadliest crackdown on protests in the history of the Islamic Republic earlier this month.

Trump warned Iran not to kill protestors and vowed in a social media post the "help is on the way," in comments which heartened demonstrators and appeared to signal readiness for a military intervention which has yet to materialize.

"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 said in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, referring to a 12-day war with Israel and the United States.

At least 12,000 protestors were killed by security forces, according to medics and government sources speaking to Iran International.

The veteran diplomat and strident defender of Tehran's crushing of the nationwide demonstrations had his invitation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland revoked this week.

"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," he added. "It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe."

Trump is weighing "decisive" military options toward Iran in the wake of the mass killing of demonstrators, the same newspaper reported on Tuesday, as a US carrier strike group steams toward the region.

Meanwhile the United States has ramped up its bid to lay claim to Greenland, a part of Denmark, citing Arctic and world security in a diplomatic drama which is opposed by the European Union and is straining the nearly 80-year-old NATO alliance.

Araghchi cited what he called Europe's support for Trump's move to exit an international deal over Iran's disputed nuclear program in his first term, saying the United States was behaving in a unilateral way which challenged global order.

"Sadly for Europe, its current conundrum is the very definition of 'blowback'. The E3/EU faithfully obeyed and even abetted President Trump when he unilaterally abrogated the Iran Nuclear Deal," he wrote on X.

"Mr. Trump's threat to take over Greenland by any means—unlawful as it is under any conception of international law or even a 'rules-based order'—could not happen to a more deserving continent," he added.

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