US President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed a stark warning to Iran, saying the country would be wiped “off the face of this earth” if it ever succeeded in assassinating him.
Trump made the remarks during a News Nation interview aired on Tuesday, responding to questions about alleged threats against his life from Tehran.
“I have very firm instructions. Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth,” Trump said, intensifying an already heated exchange between the two long-time adversaries.
The warning came amid rising tensions, with both Iran and the United States issuing threats of broad-scale war should leaders of either country be targeted. Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian General Abolfazl Shekarchi responded to questions about potential threats to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with similarly aggressive language.
“Trump knows that if a hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we will not only sever that hand, and this is not a mere slogan,” Shekarchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.
“But we will set their world on fire and leave them no safe haven in the region.”
Trump has issued comparable warnings in the past. About a year ago, shortly after returning to the White House, he told reporters that if Iran attempted such an act, “they get obliterated.”
The latest exchange comes as Iran continues to grapple with the aftermath of some of the largest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Human rights organisations say verifying the true scale of the crackdown has been difficult due to communication restrictions imposed by authorities.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported more than 4,000 confirmed deaths linked to the unrest. Meanwhile, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said on Monday that available information suggests the number of protesters killed could exceed even the highest media estimates, which place the figure as high as 20,000.
Calls for stronger international action have also grown among Iran’s global diaspora. Exiled Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has urged the United States to take “highly targeted actions” against Iran’s supreme leader and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
As rhetoric on both sides sharpens, analysts warn that such threats risk further destabilising an already volatile regional and global security environment.
