Iran’s IRGC warns of regional retaliation if US attacks
Trump reportedly told Fox News reporter Trey Yungst by phone on Sunday that he is thinking of “blowing up” all of Iran, leaving the Camp David presidential retreat a day early to return to the White House. Trump said “very big things are going to be happening” soon, according to the Fox reporter.
The president laid out three paths he said Iran could take: make a deal, be left to “rot economically,” or have its regime entirely wiped out. He said he was in a “deciding mode.”
“My question is: If and when do I blow the entire nation up?” Trump reportedly said. “They better behave.”
The remarks came a day after the U.S. State Department issued a security alert warning Americans of “unexpected escalation” in the Middle East. The alert told U.S. citizens to be more vigilant and to keep up on possible flight cancellations and airspace shutdowns.
Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are both expected in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, an annual gathering of world leaders that could create a window for direct talks. Trump reportedly told Fox News he would “probably be open to” a meeting with the Iranian leader.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded with its own warning. If Iran is attacked, “all bases and interests in the region will become targets of continuous, effective and painful attacks without any limitations or considerations,” the IRGC said.