‘If you begin the war, we will end the war’ – Iran in latest SHOCKING threat to Trump

General Qassem Soleimani, who commands Iran’s elite Quds force, has dramatically told President Trump: “If you begin the war, we will end the war.”

Mr Soleimani also taunted: “The Quds force and I are your match. We don’t go to sleep at night before thinking about you”.

He also appeared to threaten US access to the strategic Red Sea saying: “The Red Sea which was secure is no longer secure for the presence of American military.”

Five million barrels of oil pass through the Red Sea, which separates Saudi Arabia and Egypt, each day.

It is the fourth largest oil chokepoint in the world.

The threat is the latest in a war of words between key US and Iranian figures.

Earlier this month Iranian President Hassan Rouhani claimed an American attack on Iran would lead to “the mother of all wars”.

In response, Trump tweeted that if Iran threatened the US again it would face “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before”.

The threat is especially provocative as it follows two recent missile attacks on Saudi oil tankers passing through the Sea.

The missiles fell in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait which separates Yemen from East Africa.

Saudi Arabia has temporarily stopped oil shipments through the Red Sea in retaliation.

It is believed the attacks were carried out by Houthi rebels, which both Saudi Arabia and the US allege are backed by Iran.

Saudi Arabia has been fighting the Houthis in Yemen since 2015, carrying out massive airstrikes and ground assaults.

Like most Iranians the Houthis are Shia Muslims, a different sect to the Sunni dominated Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month Iranian President Hassan Rouhani claimed that a US attack on Iran would lead to “the mother of all wars”.