‘Locked, loaded, standing tall’: Qalibaf, a war veteran, challenges US after Trump’s threat

In a defiant message, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Thursday warned that millions of Iranians are ready to take up arms in defense of their country, invoking his own experience in the 1980s Holy Defense war as a young fighter to underscore the nation's willingness to resist and sacrifice.

It came hours after Trump, in his White House speech, claimed that the war was “nearing completion” while adding that the US is prepared to scale up its military aggression in the next few weeks and threatened to bring Iran “back to the stone ages.”

"Listen up," Qalibaf stated, addressing US President Donald Trump and his war cabinet. "Back when I was eighteen years old, I grabbed my rifle and ran straight into the fight to defend the soil of my beloved, unbreakable Iran, the only home I ever knew."

The parliament speaker then spoke of his brother, Hassan, who fell in the same war, in which the Iraqi Ba'athist regime was backed by the US and other Western governments.

"He laid it all on the line in that same fight for our homeland. He never came back home. To this day, I still ache to wrap my arms around him one more time. That kind of pain never leaves a man," he wrote, recalling the painful separation

Qalibaf hastened to add that his brother was not the only loss he carried.

"I lost brothers who weren't blood but were family just the same, men who fought like lions and became part of me forever," referring to many of his comrades who were martyred in the Holy Defense war or in the subsequent years, mostly at the hands of the Israeli-US war machine, from Syria to Iraq to Lebanon and Iran.

Describing the Iranian character, Qalibaf declared: "We are not warmongers. But when the time comes to defend our homeland, every last one of us becomes a soldier."

He said a massive national campaign over the past week has already mobilized millions amid threats of land invasion by the US.

"Right now, in less than a week, a powerful national campaign sweeping across the country has brought forward around 7 million Iranians who have already stepped up and declared they're ready to pick up arms and stand in defense of our nation," he stated.

Qalibaf contrasted Iranian resolve with what he characterized as empty rhetoric.

"Let me tell you something straight from the gut: Iranians don't just talk about defending their country, we bleed for it. We've done it before, and we're ready to do it again."

In a stark warning directed at Iran's enemies, Qalibaf delivered a memorable closing line: "You come for our home… you're gonna meet the whole family. Locked, loaded, and standing tall. Bring it on."

The full text of the message:

Listen up. Back when I was eighteen years old, I grabbed my rifle and ran straight into the fight to defend the soil of my beloved, unbreakable Iran, the only home I ever knew.

My brother, Hassan, he laid it all on the line in that same fight for our homeland. He never came back home. To this day, I still ache to wrap my arms around him one more time. That kind of pain never leaves a man.

And he wasn’t the only one. I lost brothers who weren’t blood but were family just the same, men who fought like lions and became part of me forever.

But that’s what we do. We give everything – everything we have got – for the land we love. We poured out our youth, our blood, and every tomorrow we had for Iran.

We are not warmongers. But when the time comes to defend our homeland, every last one of us becomes a soldier.

Right now, in less than a week, a powerful national campaign sweeping across the country has brought forward around 7 million Iranians who have already stepped up and declared they’re ready to pick up arms and stand in defense of our nation.

Let me tell you somethin’ straight from the gut: Iranians don’t just talk about defending their country, we bleed for it. We’ve done it before, and we’re ready to do it again.

You come for our home… you’re gonna meet the whole family.

Locked, loaded, and standing tall. Bring it on.

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