Trump warns Tehran war with US would result in 'official end of Iran'

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Donald Trump has warned Iran that it faces being destroyed in a war with the US, amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

The US president tweeted on Sunday: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again.”

Mr Trump spoke out shortly after it was reported that a rocket had landed less than a mile from the US Embassy in Iraq.

The Katyusha missile crashed into Baghdad’s Green Zone without causing any casualties.

Relations between the US and Iran have deteriorated rapidly since Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran almost a year ago.

While France, Germany and China have called for the deal to continue, Iran announced last week that it was stepping up some of its nuclear capabilities.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the regime’s uranium stockpile would be enriched closer to weapons-grade levels unless world powers negotiated a new deal wthin 60 days.

In response Mr Trump ordered new sanctions on Iran as part of his administration’s policy of ”maximum pressure”.

The US announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Middle East to counter what it says are “clear indications” of Iranian threats in the region.

Tensions increased further when an Iranian military commander declared that Tehran was “on the cusp of a full scale confrontation with the enemy”.

The head of the Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying: “This moment in history, because the enemy has stepped into the field of confrontation with us with all the possible capacity, is the most decisive moment of the Islamic revolution.”​

Then on Friday and Saturday the US Navy conducted exercises in the Arabian Sea with an aircraft carrier strike group to highlight its “lethality and agility to respond to threat”.

Saudi Arabia, which has accused Iran of ordering drone strikes on two of its oil pumping stations, has also said it stands ready to respond with “all strength” to defend itself from attack.