President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter saying that the United States has “targeted 52 Iranian sites” after threats from the Iranian regime.
Trump warned Iran not to attack “any Americans or American assets” on Saturday night.
Earlier in the day, senior Revolutionary Guards commander General Gholamali Abuhamzeh threatened that 35 U.S. targets were within reach for the Islamic republic following the killing of Iranian top general Qassem Soleimani by U.S. airstrikes.
“Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters,” Trump wrote.
“Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.
“The USA wants no more threats!” he declared.
Tehran’s Threats
In his threats on behalf of the regime in Tehran, Abuhamzeh had said that “vital American targets” were “identified by Iran since long time ago.”He had also raised the prospect of possible attacks on American destroyers and warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
In further veiled threats, the Kata’ib Hezbollah (also Kataib Hizbollah) Iranian-backed militia, which the United States has designated a terrorist group, warned Iraqi security forces on Saturday to stay away from U.S. bases in Iraq, according to al-Mayadeen television.
However, experts and people familiar with the situation told The Epoch Times that Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is unlikely to order attacks on U.S. assets while they’re mourning Soleimani.
‘Circle of Violence’
Soleimani was killed near Baghdad International Airport overnight on Jan. 3 during an airstrike ordered by Trump.“We cannot promise that we have broken the circle of violence,” a senior State Department official told reporters on Jan. 3. “What I can say from my experience with Qassem Soleimani is, it is less likely that we will see this now than it was before, and if we do see an increase in violence, it probably will not be as devilishly ingenious.”