Iran must be ready for war, the country's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said in response to threats of American military intervention, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
"Today we must be ready for war. The Islamic Republic of Iran has never started a war, but if one is imposed on it, it will defend itself with force," the vice president said, quoted by the Iranian news agency ISNA.
Meanwhile, former Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, a central figure in the 2009 protest movement, today called on Iranian leaders to leave power after the "crime", which, in his words, is the suppression of the protests.
"In what language should you "The people say they don't want this system and don't believe your lies? Enough," Mousavi, who has been under house arrest since 2011, said in a statement released by his Kalameh media outlet.
The former prime minister claimed to have won the 2009 presidential election against then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, believing the ultra-conservative leader's victory was the result of manipulation, which sparked huge protest rallies in his support, known as the "Green Movement."
In his statement, Mousavi described the crackdown on this month's protests, considered the largest protest movement in Iran since 2009, as a "black page in the nation's history" and a "great betrayal and crime."
Mousavi said Iranians would not have "no choice" but to protest again until the security forces "sooner or later give up carrying the burden" of the repression.
"Put down your weapons and leave power so that the nation itself can lead the country to freedom and prosperity," he urged.
Iranian security forces in plain clothes have detained thousands of people in a campaign of mass arrests aimed at preventing future protests, Reuters reported.
A few days after the crackdown on protests in Iran, members of the security forces have launched a campaign of mass arrests, accompanied by a heightened presence on the streets, especially around checkpoints, five activists told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said those arrested were being held in secret locations.
"They are being detained in order. No one knows where they are being taken detainees. With these arrests and threats, they are trying to sow fear in society," the activists said.
Similar reports reached Reuters from lawyers, medics, eyewitnesses and two Iranian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect themselves from reprisals.
They said the arrests appeared to be aimed at preventing a renewed outbreak of protests, by sowing fear at a time when Iranian authorities are under increasing external pressure.