TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Friday invoked a medieval Persian historical account to warn the United States against underestimating Iran, amid renewed military threats from President Donald Trump.
In a post on X marking Commemoration Day and National Persian Prose Day, Baghaei quoted the 11th-century historian Abolfazl Beyhaqi’s account of a fortress defended by lions. 
In the episode, a commander named Okar is dispatched with 300 horsemen to seize the stronghold, confident it will fall through war or surrender, unaware that lions dwell inside.
“And yet, ‘assumption can err and hit the mark!’ And they were unaware that there lions dwell,” Baghaei wrote. “They thought they had come for a feast of pure delight, and that the task would be an easy one!”
The message comes amid renewed U.S. threats. Trump said on October 16 that Washington might need to strike Kuh-e Kolang mountain and has warned he could resume aggression if negotiations fail, while U.S. military commanders have reportedly been instructed to prepare options for possible renewed strikes.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi challenged Trump’s threat to “finish the job,” writing on X: “Last time you wanted to ‘finish the job,’ Iran emerged even stronger. Want to try your luck again? Be our guest. But be careful; we have unfinished jobs too.”
Also on Sunday, Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Ali Abdollahi warned Washington and Tel Aviv against further “miscalculation,” declaring that previous attempts to overthrow or destroy Iran had failed and that the country remains standing despite the attacks.
Baghaei separately rejected the use of the term “Iran conflict” to describe the current aggression, saying it obscures an unlawful war waged by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic.
In a statement on Thursday

 night, he said the refusal to call aggression by its name is not neutrality but moral evasion.
“If we lack even the courage to identify the aggressor and name the aggression, how can we claim to have the moral courage to confront injustice, propose workable solutions, or contribute meaningfully to peace?” he said. 
“Peace cannot be built by appeasing aggressors, legitimizing aggression, condemning the victim, or sacrificing fundamental principles.”