Iran threat: Commander sends Trump dire US fleet warning – ‘It is an OPPORTUNITY’

Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division, also vowed to “hit America in the head” in the event of any military action being taken against his country. The US military has sent forces, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, to the Middle East to counter what US officials believe are “clear indications” of threats from Iran to its forces there. The USS Abraham Lincoln is replacing another carrier rotated out of the Gulf last month.

Mr Hajizadeh said: “An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past but now. The threats have switched to opportunities.”

He added: “If the Americans make a move we will hit them in the head.”

The commander of the Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said in a parliament session on Sunday that the United States has started a psychological war in the region, according to a parliamentary spokesman.

In a summary of Mr Salami’s comments, MP Behrouz Nemati told the ICANA news site: “Commander Salami, with attention to the situation in the region, presented an analysis that the Americans have started a psychological war because the comings and goings of their military is a normal matter.

Mr Salami was appointed head of the Guards last month.

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Sunday that US national security adviser John Bolton had made plans for the United States to withdraw from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and take a more aggressive posture toward the Islamic Republic even before he took up his current post.

Mr Zarif tweeted a link to a 2017 National Review article written by Bolton with the headline “How to Get Out of the Iran Nuclear Deal.”

He commented: ”A detailed blueprint for FakeIntelligence, ForeverWar and even empty offers for talks – only phone numbers were not included.”

CNN reported on Friday that the White House had passed a telephone number to the Swiss for contacting US President Donald Trump in case Iranian officials want to hold talks.

The Swiss embassy in Tehran represents US interests in the Islamic Republic.

Speaking on Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said threats from Iran had escalated in recent weeks and warned Tehran against further inflaming the situation. 

He added: “The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against US interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive US response.”

Mr Pompeo’s warnings came two days after Iran threatened to resume work to develop nuclear weapons if signatories to the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement, which was signed in 2015 with the aim of limiting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, failed to protect its economy from sanctions imposed after Mr Trump pulled the US out of the deal last year.

US/Iran relations have deteriorated significantly in recent years, and Mr Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traded insults last year as the situation threatened to spiral out of control.

Mr Trump eventually threatened Tehran with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered” in a furious early-morning tweet after Mr Rouhani has suggested a war between the  two countries would be “the mother of all conflicts”.

Apart from the dispute over the JPOCA deal, Mr Rouhani and his colleagues have also been angered by US officials including Mr Pompeo encouraging pro-democracy protesters in Iran.

source: express.co.uk