US President Trump threatens IRAN

Washington, July 23: US President Donald Trump has warned his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani that if Tehran threatened the US again, it will suffer "consequences the likes of which few have ever suffered before".

The tweet in all-caps was posted on Sunday night and followed an apparent warning by Rouhani, in which he cautioned that Americans "must understand that war with Iran is the mother of all wars and peace with Iran is the mother of all peace", according to Iranian state media reports.

Rouhani also shared a message for Trump, saying "do not play with the lion's tail, because you will regret it eternally".

In response, the US leader said: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE US AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"

Trump's tweet came shortly after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered his own blistering speech on Iran's leaders, accusing the clerics that rule the country of using the country's revenue to line their own pockets and fund terrorism at the expense of average Iranians, according to media.

"To the regime, prosperity, security and freedom for the Iranian people are acceptable casualties in the march to fulfil the Revolution," Pompeo said on Sunday night at the Ronald Reagan National Library in California.

"The level of corruption and wealth among regime leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government."

In May, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, which will come into force in August.

Trump criticized the earlier pact and demanded a more aggressive one which restricts the Iranian ballistic missile programme.

The 2015 nuclear agreement, signed by Iran and the P5+1 Group comprising the US, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany, limited Tehran's nuclear energy programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. But now its future is unsure after Washington's measures.