Iran's Khamenei issues direct warning to United States in Russian-language posts

As Iran faces escalating nationwide protests and rising verbal threats from the Trump administration, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a pointed informing to the United States this week from an antithetic level — his Russian-language relationship connected X — a determination analysts accidental underscores Tehran’s alignment with Moscow arsenic unit mounts connected the regime.

In a station dated Jan. 11, Khamenei wrote successful Russian, "The United States contiguous is miscalculating successful its attack toward Iran." Hours later, helium followed with a 2nd message, besides successful Russian, informing that Americans had suffered decision earlier due to the fact that of "miscalculations" and would bash truthful again due to the fact that of "erroneous planning."

Ksenia Svetlova, enforcement manager of the Regional Organization for Peace, Economy and Security (ROPES) and an subordinate chap astatine Chatham House, said the connection prime was telling, adjacent if the execution was clumsy.

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"This is atrocious Russian," Svetlova told Fox News Digital. "It seems that it’s translated by Google Translate, not by a quality being." Still, she said the usage of Khamenei’s Russian-language relationship was nary astonishment fixed however intimately Iran and Russia person aligned successful caller years.

Khamenei’s informing came arsenic Iran’s interior situation continued to deepen. According to HRANA, a quality rights enactment tracking the unrest, astatine slightest 544 radical person been killed successful nationwide protests, with dozens of further cases inactive nether review. Opposition radical NCRI has claimed the decease toll is acold higher — much than 3,000 — though nonstop figures stay hard to verify amid wide net blackouts imposed by Iranian authorities.

President Donald Trump has led U.S. disapproval successful effect to the rising decease toll. In effect to a question astir whether Iran had crossed a reddish line, Trump responded by saying, "They're starting to, it looks like. And they look to beryllium immoderate radical killed that aren't expected to beryllium killed. These are violent. If you telephone them leaders, I don't cognize if their leaders, oregon conscionable they regularisation done violence. But we're looking astatine it precise seriously," helium said connected Sunday aboard Air Force One. 

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shingle hands arsenic they conscionable successful Moscow, Russia Jan. 17, 2025. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool via Reuters)

"We’re looking astatine immoderate precise beardown options," helium added.

Iranian leaders person pushed back, accusing Washington of interference and informing that immoderate U.S. subject enactment would trigger retaliation against American forces and allies successful the region.

At the aforesaid time, Tehran has signaled it wants to support diplomatic backchannels open. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that connection betwixt Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff remains active. Axios separately reported that Araghchi reached retired to Witkoff implicit the play amid Trump’s warnings of imaginable subject action.

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In this framework drawback from video obtained by the AP extracurricular Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a representation of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protestation successful Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

Despite those overtures, analysts accidental Khamenei’s Russian-language connection reflects wherever Iran sees its astir reliable strategical partner.

Russia has go a captious lifeline for Tehran, peculiarly arsenic Moscow relies connected Iranian-supplied drones and different subject instrumentality for its warfare successful Ukraine. That dependence, Svetlova said, means Iran’s interior instability could transportation superior consequences for the Kremlin.

"I deliberation that could beryllium a melodramatic effect, due to the fact that they bash beryllium connected Iran — specifically subject production, the drones and ballistic missiles," she said. "They request them to proceed their warfare against Ukraine."

Yet the concern has besides fueled resentment wrong Iran. Svetlova pointed to disapproval pursuing the 12-day warfare with Israel, erstwhile galore Iranians accused Moscow of failing to travel to Tehran’s aid.

"There was a batch of disapproval successful Iran against Russia that it did not travel to help," she said. "It didn’t scope out. It didn’t bash anything, basically."

Still, she said Russia has fewer alternatives arsenic its planetary presumption narrows. With longtime allies weakened oregon toppled, specified arsenic Bashar al-Assad successful Syria and Nicolás Maduro successful Venezuela, Moscow is progressively reliant connected Tehran — adjacent arsenic it remains mostly soundless astir the protests rocking Iran.

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Iranians stitchery portion blocking a thoroughfare during a protestation successful Kermanshah, Iran connected Jan. 8, 2026.  (Kamran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Against that backdrop, Svetlova explained, Khamenei’s informing successful Russian appears similar a awesome — to Washington and to Moscow — that Iran sees its confrontation with the United States arsenic portion of a shared beforehand with President Vladimir Putin.