‘Wiped off the face of the earth': Trump escalates Iran tensions with chilling warning
US President Donald Trump warned Iran that any assassination attempt against him would lead to severe retaliation, marking a significant escalation in tensions. This response follows Trump's previous ‘sick man’ remark for Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday responded to Iran's threats. He said that the United States will wipe out the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-led country if the country assassinates him, marking a sharp escalation in the war of words between the two nations.
In an interview aired on 20 January on NewsNation's “Katie Pavlich Tonight”, Trump said, “I have very firm instructions — anything happens, they're going to wipe them off the face of this earth."
This statement came in response to Iran's armed forces spokesperson, General Abolfazl Shekarchi, issuing a warning to the US. On Tuesday, Iran warned the 79-year-old US leader to refrain from taking any action against the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Trump knows that if any hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we not only cut that hand but also we will set fire to their world,” AFP quoted General Abolfazl Shekarchi as saying.
Trump calls Khamenei ‘sick man’
On 17 January, Trump called Iran's 86-year-old leader a "sick man" and a failed ruler after Khamenei labelled him as “criminal” and blamed him for the murder of thousands of protestors in Tehran. Iran accused the US president of inciting deadly violence and unrest in their nation. A few days ago, in an interview with Politico, Trump had said, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran" as he asserted that “a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people.”
This development comes after Trump previously raised calls for an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 37-year reign. Trump accused the Iranian leadership of relying on repression while he raised calls for new leadership in the Middle Eastern nation.
The two arch-rivals have been exchanging political barbs over the past few days since protests first erupted in Iran on 28 December over the economic slowdown and stagnation. Over a prospective assassination bid, Trump had previously said he instructed his advisors to obliterate Iran.
As many as 4,519 protestors died in the recent unrest, according to data released by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Furthermore, the Iranian authorities detained nearly 26,300 people in connection with the nationwide demonstrations against economic hardship.
According to ship-tracking data, the US Navy's USS Abraham Lincoln passed through the Strait of Malacca in recent days, AP reported. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was previously deployed in the South China Sea, but on Tuesday, it entered the key waterway connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean amid instability in the region.