US President Donald Trump has issued a clear warning that Iran would face total destruction if the country is found responsible for any attempt to assassinate him. The President said the directive was specifically linked to any potential assassination attempt targeting him.
"I have very firm instructions — anything happens, they're going to wipe them off the face of this earth," Trump said in an interview on NewsNation's "Katie Pavlich Tonight".
Iran warns US on attack on Supreme Leader Khamenei
Iran on Tuesday warned Trump not to take any action against the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, days after the US president called for an end to Khamenei's nearly 40-year reign.
"Trump knows that if any hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we not only cut that hand but also we will set fire to their world," General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesperson for Iran's armed forces, said.
Trump had previously said he's given his advisors instructions to obliterate Iran if the country is behind an assassination of him. "If they did that, they would be obliterated," he told reporters while signing an executive order reinstating maximum pressure on Tehran. "I've left instructions — if they do it, there won’t be anything left.”
Under the US Constitution, Vice President JD Vance would assume the presidency if Trump were assassinated and would not be legally bound by any directives issued by his predecessor.
Iran protests
Tension between the US and Iran has been high since a violent crackdown by authorities on protests that began over Iran's ailing economy on December 28.
The death toll from the protests has reached at least 4,484 people, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Tuesday. The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations and unrest in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. The AP has been unable to independently confirm the figure.
The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic into being.
Although there have been no protests for days, there are fears the number could increase significantly as information gradually emerges from a country still under a government-imposed shutdown of the internet since January 8.
A further 26,127 people have been arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Comments from officials have led to fears of some of those detained being put to death in Iran, one of the world's top executioners.
Also Read: 'Any attack on Supreme Leader Khamenei would mean all-out war': Iran warns US amid unrest
Also Read: Iran turmoil: At least 5,000 killed as unrest continues; Khamenei calls Trump 'criminal' | 10 Points
