Any attack by Iran will be met with overwhelming force, says Donald Trump

Amid rising tensions between US and Iran, President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Iran of grave consequences in case of any misadventure. This came after Iran warned that new US sanctions targeting its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meant “closing the doors of diplomacy”. “Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality. Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force," Trump said in a tweet after Iran issued a statement.

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Earlier, Trump signed an executive order which he said will impose “hard-hitting” sanctions on Iran and deny the Iranian Supreme Leader and other officials access to financial instruments within the US jurisdiction.

“Sadly, the thing they do understand is strength and power, and the USA is by far the most powerful military force in the world, with 1.5 trillion dollars invested over the last two years alone,” he tweeted.

Trump said that the “wonderful Iranian people” are suffering, and for no reason at all.

“Their leadership spends all of its money on terror, and little on anything else. The US has not forgotten Iran’s use of IED’s & EFP’s (bombs), which killed 2,000 Americans, and wounded many more,” he said.

Iran’s UN ambassador said on Monday that conditions were not ripe for a dialogue with the United States. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi told reporters that the United States must stop “its economic war against the Iranian people.” 

“You cannot start a dialogue with somebody who is threatening you, who is intimidating you,” said Ravanchi. “The atmosphere of such a dialogue is not ready yet.” The ambassador spoke a few hours after the United States announced a raft of new sanctions that target Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and eight Iranian commanders.

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As part of the expanded sanctions, the United States has also decided to blacklist Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and block "billions" more in Iranian assets. While eight top military commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards have now been blacklisted, Zarif would be added to an economic sanctions list "later this week.