Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, made the chilling warning to the US President in the wake of rising tensions between Iran and the US.
It comes just days after the President sent a capital letter-filled tweet ordering Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to “never, ever threaten the United States again”.
But Soleimani insisted the Islamic Republic was ready for war with America.
He said: “As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to Trump’s threats. “If he wants to use the language of threat, he should talk to me, not to the President Rouhani.”
He added: “We are near you, where you can’t even imagine… Come. We are ready. If you begin the war, we will end the war.”
Soleimani also blamed instability in the Red Sea on the presence of US troops in the region.
He said: “The Red Sea, which was secure, is no longer secure with the American presence.
“Trump should know that we are a nation of martyrdom and that we await him.”
On Sunday, Trump said in a tweet directed at Rouhani: “Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have suffered before.
“We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. “Be cautious!”
A day earlier, Rouhani had addressed Trump in a speech, saying that hostile US policies could lead to “the mother of all wars”.
Amid the rising tensions, US national security adviser John Bolton said in a statement on Monday: “President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before.”
Soleimani responded: “You [Trump] threaten us with paying a price like few countries have ever paid. Trump, this is the language of night clubs and gambling halls.”