If the United States of America invades Iran, the Middle Eastern nation is ready to defend itself without relying on any other countries, Tehran government’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alireza Delkhosh said.
Delkhosh made these comments when he addressed a group of select journalists in Colombo over the latest development in Iran amid an expected impending U.S. attack citing the Tehran government’s failure to protect the rights of protestors who started protests last month over sudden depreciation of Iranian rial.
“…if the United States will do something wrong against Iran, we have our capabilities. We don’t rely on any other country,” Delkhosh told reporters at his residence in proximity to the United Nation’s office in Colombo.
“We are Iran and we stand on our capabilities, , not we are not the other countries says that, okay, if the United States attacked us, we won’t ask some other country to defend us. We will defend ourselves from ourselves. We don’t rely on other countries.”
“Iran has its own options in order to defend itself. We ask our neighbouring countries to be alert that in any case, if the United States attacks us, all United States’ bases in the region will be our targets.”
He also criticized the U.S. President for not honouring international laws.
“From international law, no country can attack another country because of the political point of view. Now, Trump threatens Iran to attack. For what? Just because he is saying something, he wants to dictate something to Iran and Iran rejects, and Iran says no, you cannot dictate to me.”
He said Iran is ready for negotiation, but that should consider both countries equally.
Person of Tweet
“So from an international law perspective, there is not any possibility to attack Iran. But Trump has shown that he’s not a person of international law. He’s a person of tweets, and his tweet depends on the time. In the morning, before breakfast, he says something. After breakfast, he says something else. Midnight, he changes his mind and says something.”
“So if he wants to do some mistake and attack Iran, we will not ignore the attack. We will defend, and our defence is stronger than before.”
He detailed the ongoing protests in Iran and said though the protests originally started on December 28 was due to genuine economic concerns raised by the Iranian people, but later it was hijacked by a foreign intelligence agency.
As of mid-January 2026, foreign news agencies have reported that Iran’s nationwide anti-government protests, which erupted in late December 2025 over severe economic hardship including hyperinflation and the rial’s collapse to record lows, have largely been suppressed following an intense crackdown by security forces.
The unrest peaked dramatically from January 8–10, spreading to all 31 provinces with millions reportedly participating in demonstrations, strikes, and clashes.
Security forces imposed a near-total internet and communications blackout to disrupt coordination, used live ammunition extensively, and conducted mass arrests.
There were no official death toll estimates, though foreign news agencies quoting the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and Iran Human Rights report said at least 2,400–3,400 protester deaths (including children).
However, the Iranian envoy to Sri Lanka said killing started after foreign backed protestors started to shoot and attack the police and armed forces.
“Some Iranians have received some special money, we have details of this information,” he said.
“For example, some paid 500 US dollars for killing one person, 300 US dollars to injure a person, 300 US dollars for burning and setting fire to public vehicles, and 200 US dollars to burn private vehicles.”
“We know who paid and who received. Yes, there are some Iranians who also received the money for doing this.”
Excerpt–ECONOMYNEXT
