Trump: I could destroy Iran

A WAR of words between Donald Trump and Iran exploded on Twitter yesterday, with the US President threatening to destroy his opponent.

Mr Trump warned Iran not to threaten America again, or face its ‘official end’, after a rocket landed close to the US embassy in Baghdad. But Tehran’s foreign minister hit back, telling Mr Trump he was attempting to achieve ‘what Alexander (the Great), Genghis (Khan) & other aggressors failed to do’.

After an American aircraft carrier and bombers were deployed to the Gulf last week, Mr Trump had toned down his rhetoric, but ramped it up after Sunday’s rocket attack, for which no one has claimed responsibility.

‘If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran,’ he posted. ‘Never threaten the United States again!’

Iraqi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Rasoul said the rocket was believed to have been fired from Shia-controlled east Baghdad. Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded with a tweet of his own in English yesterday, saying Mr Trump had been ‘goaded’ into ‘genocidal taunts’.

He added: ‘Iranians have stood tall for a millennia while aggressors all gone.’ He ended his tweet with #neverthreatenaniranian and: ‘Try respect – it works!’