00:00The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has issued one of its clearest warnings yet,
00:29declaring it has its finger on the trigger as U.S. military forces move closer to Iran and tensions in the region continue to escalate.
00:45The statement came Thursday from IRGC Commander General Mohammed Pakpour,
00:51who warned the United States and Israel against what he called any miscalculation,
00:57saying Iran's forces are fully prepared to act under orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
01:08His remarks arrive at a critical moment.
01:13The United States has confirmed that a large naval armada, including nuclear-capable warships, is moving toward the Persian Gulf.
01:22President Donald Trump acknowledged the deployment, saying American forces are heading toward Iran just in case.
01:30At the same time, Trump stressed that diplomacy has not been abandoned.
01:37You know, we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case.
01:42We have a big flotilla going in that direction.
01:46And we'll see what happens.
01:48We have a big force.
01:49We have a big force going toward Iran.
01:53I'd rather not see anything happen, but we're watching them very closely.
01:58I saw 837 hangings on Thursday.
02:03They would have been dead.
02:06Every one of them would have been hung.
02:08This is like from a thousand years ago.
02:11This is an ancient culture.
02:12Very smart people, by the way.
02:14But it's an ancient culture.
02:16837 mostly young men were going to be hung on Thursday.
02:22And I said, if you hang those people, you're going to be hit harder than you've ever been hit.
02:29It will make what we did to your Iran nuclear look like peanuts.
02:33An hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled it.
02:40And they actually said they canceled it.
02:42They didn't postpone it.
02:43They canceled it.
02:44So that was a good sight.
02:45But we have an armada.
02:48We have a massive fleet heading in that direction.
02:52And maybe we won't have to use it.
02:55We'll see.
02:56Iran's leadership is facing unprecedented internal strain.
03:00Protests that erupted in late December spread rapidly across the country,
03:07shaking the clerical establishment under Supreme Leader Khamenei.
03:12Activists say the response was brutal.
03:17According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency,
03:21more than 5,000 people have been killed,
03:24with rights groups warning the real number could be far higher,
03:28possibly exceeding 20,000.
03:31At least 25,500 people have been arrested.
03:37And Iran has enforced a near-total Internet blackout
03:41for more than two weeks, severely limiting the flow of information.
03:49Against this backdrop, the IRGC's warning carries particular weight.
03:54Pakpur stated that Iran had learned lessons from last year's 12-day war
03:59when the U.S.-backed Israeli strikes targeted Iranian nuclear and missile facilities.
04:05He warned that a renewed confrontation would bring a more painful and regrettable fate for Iran's adversaries.
04:19Iranian President Masoud Pazeskian accused the United States and Israel of fueling the unrest inside Iran,
04:27calling the protests a form of cowardly revenge for Iran's defeat in the previous conflict.
04:34Despite the heated rhetoric, both sides have signaled, at least publicly, that they want to avoid immediate war.
04:41Trump said Iran still appears interested in talks, even as American forces continue to reposition.
04:49He has, however, drawn firm red lines, warning that attacks on U.S. forces or leadership would trigger devastating consequences.
04:58The U.S. military buildup includes carrier strike groups, submarines, and advanced air and missile defense systems,
05:07underscoring that Washington is preparing for multiple scenarios.
05:11For now, the situation remains a high-stakes standoff.
05:16Iran's leadership is under pressure from mass protests.
05:21The Revolutionary Guards are signaling readiness.
05:25U.S. warships are moving into position.
05:28And both sides are balancing diplomacy with threats.
05:32The Revolutionary Guards
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