Tensions between Iran and the US have continued to escalate, after a new video showed a secret underground missile base in Iran developing terrifying weapons. The footage of the secret military base in Iran shows the Islamic Republic testing a Qiam-1 missile – a weapon based on a North Korean scud missile. This comes just days after the US agreed to send more than 1,500 troops to the Middle East region to defend against “Iranian aggression”.
The US administration recently accused Iran of preparing to launch an attack on the American forces in the Middle East.
A leading American lawmaker, Rep. Michael McCaul, who is the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, revealed the intelligence pointing to an imminent attack late last week.
He said: “One of the Hezbollah cells is known for its kidnapping and killing operations, and their directive was to go in and kill and kidnap American soldiers.”
The US’ mass deployment of troops was also in response to the alleged involvement of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in this month’s tanker attacks in the United Arab Emirates.
Four oil tankers, belonging to Saudi, Norwegian, and Emirati military, were allegedly sabotaged off the coast of the UAE.
Amid heated military rhetoric, a senior Iranian military official claimed on Saturday that Iran could sink US warships sent to the Gulf region using missiles and “secret weapons”.
General Morteza Qorbani, an adviser to Iran’s military command, warned that Iran will attack US ships with missiles and weapons if they “commit stupidity”.
The State Department has since ordered all “non-emergency” personnel to immediately leave Iraq.
President Donald Trump warned the Iranian leaders that, if they threatened the US, Tehran would meet its “official end.”
Earlier this month, General Qassem Soleimani, the head of an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told Iran-aligned Iraqi Shiite militias to “prepare for proxy war.”
Tehran has also said that its Navy is prepared to target the American ships should a conflict break out at any moment.
Despite this, President Trump insisted he was not looking for regime change during his trip to Japan this week.
He said: “I do believe that Iran would like to talk, and if they’d like to talk, we’d like to talk also.”