NewsBeat
‘Be careful not to get eliminated’: Iran’s stark warning to Trump as war escalates
A senior Iranian official made a thinly veiled threat against Donald Trump’s life on Tuesday as the US continued to pound Iran with bombs.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth promised the “most intense” day of strikes yet, just a day after the US president vowed to rain down “death, fire and fury” on the Islamic Republic.
“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats,” security chief Ali Larijani wrote in a defiant post on X on Tuesday in response to Mr Trump’s Truth Social post.
“Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”
The war of words came as Iran continued to strike countries across the Gulf, with Bahrain reporting its first death – that of a 29-year-old woman – as a result of the ongoing conflict.
At least 12 people have been killed across the oil-rich nations, the vast majority of them migrant workers, according to the New York Times.
Around 140 US troops have been wounded in the past 10 days, the chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday. “The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” he said in a statement to CNN.
Doubts have emerged over the war’s duration after Mr Trump said it would be a “short-term excursion” that would be over “very soon” in a statement to press on Monday.
Mr Hegseth said the war would be ended on “our timeline and at our choosing” as global supply chains reeled from surging oil prices. Energy markets have been plunged into chaos due to paralysed shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has threatened to fully close.
Mr Hegseth said that more fighter jets and bombers were being deployed to pound Iran as other experts have warned that the Islamic Republic could be playing a “war of attrition”, exhausting expensive US weaponry before using its better gear.
US president Donald Trump also threatened Iran with a military response “at a level never seen before” if mines are laid in the Strait of Hormuz, afterCNN reported that Iran had begun laying mines in the key shipping route – through which around one-fifth of the world’s crude oil passes.
Two intelligence sources told the broadcaster that mining was not extensive yet, with a few dozen laid in recent days.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the consequences to Iran will be “at a level never seen before” if no action is taken to remove the mines.
“If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” he wrote. “If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!”
It comes amid market turmoil, with oil prices having surged over the weekend and hitting a high of $115 a barrel on Monday. Prices subsequently fell after Trump said the war would end “very soon”.
Downing Street said this afternoon that Britain was working with allies on a range of options to support commercial shipping, as the ministry of defence announced that a British warship, the HMS Dragon, a Type 45 Destroyer, left Portsmouth naval base on Tuesday afternoon headed for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi signalled that Iran was no closer to backing down under US-Israeli pressure, telling PBS: “We are well prepared to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as needed and as long as it takes.”
It comes as new reports suggested that the US are considering taking over Kharg Island, a small 7.7 square mile piece of land that is home to 94 per cent of Iran’s oil exports and its main oil export terminal.
US administration officials said that discussions on seizing the key island have taken place, according to Axios.
Reports also suggested that Iran could activate “sleeper cells” to carry out attacks across the globe.
The US is reported to have intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that were sent out following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli attack on 28 February, ABC News reported, citing a federal alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration asked Israel not to carry out strikes on Iran’s energy facilities, according to a report in Axios. The requests mark the first time the White House has imposed restrictions on Israel since the countries launched a joint war on Iran 10 days ago.