Updated

Senior Iranian officials issued a wave of defiant statements on October 16 rejecting US pressure and threats following the February war. President Masoud Pezeshkian said bombs and missiles cannot force Iran to surrender, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the US must be punished for its "atrocities," and a senior IRGC official said Iran is now "past the threat of collapse" from surprise attack. Iran's ambassador to Russia said any US resort to force would "lead nowhere," Foreign Minister Araghchi reiterated Tehran's "concerns and sensitivities" about any US military presence in the surrounding region, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei accused "global arrogance" of seeking to inflict suffering on Iran through restrictions including on medicines. A lawmaker separately said US attempts to distort Iran's history would not sway world opinion.