Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Sunday of a "regional war" if the United States attacked following heavy military deployments by Washington in the Gulf.
"The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war," Khamenei was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.
Khamenei said that recent anti-government protests that saw killings and vandalism were akin to "a coup".
"They (rioters) attacked the police, government centres, IRGC centres, banks, and mosques, and burned the Koran... It was like a coup," Khamenei said according to Tasnim news agency, adding that "the coup was suppressed".
