Trump threatens to 'unleash hell' after Iran said it would target a second major oil route - live updates - Michael Yon Video!

Source: Daily Mail

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Donald Trump has tonight threatened to 'unleash hell' on Iran, after the nation threatened to escalate the war by launching attacks in a second major oil route, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in retaliation for a US invasion of Kharg Island. 

Speaking on the US leader's behalf, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: 'President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their navy, their air force and their air defence systems. 

'Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refuses to understand they have already been defeated and refuse to come to a deal.' 

She added: 'The president’s preference is always peace. There does not need to be any more death and destruction.

'But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, president Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.' 

It comes after an unnamed insider told the state-backed Tasnim news agency that Tehran could open up a new front in the strait where the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have previously carried out attacks.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has already signalled the group is prepared to join the war, declaring 'all options at the military level are possible while affirming support for Iran, Lebanon and Palestine.

Meanwhile Iran is claiming it is hunting US soldiers hiding out across the Middle East after drone and missile attacks on American military bases, it has been reported.

Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari has called on people in the Gulf states to report hideouts and demand their expulsion, according to remarks attributed to Iranian media outlets.

'Considering that all American bases in the region have been destroyed, American commanders and soldiers have fled and taken refuge in hideouts outside the bases, and we are searching for them,' Zolfaqari is cited as saying.

It comes as Tehran rejects a 15-point peace proposal put forward by Donald Trump after it was passed by Pakistan earlier today. In a counter proposal, Iran has set out five conditions to end the war which include authority over the Strait of Hormuz and 'concrete guarantees' there will be no future attacks.

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Breaking:White House: Trump 'prepared to unleash hell' on Iran

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: 'The president’s preference is always peace. There does not need to be any more death and destruction.

'But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, president Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.

She added: 'President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their navy, their air force and their air defence systems.

'Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refuses to understand they have already been defeated and refuse to come to a deal.'

Iran has warned it will strike USS Abraham Lincoln, one of the world's biggest aircraft carriers, if it falls within range of its missiles.

The threat comes after a large-scale missile attack failed to hit the vessel.

Footage has emerged of the moment Iran launched a series of shore-to-sea cruise missiles at the Lincoln carrier, which was deployed to the Middle East to support Operation Epic Fury.

Speaking in the White House yesterday, Donald Trump said: 'They shot 100 missiles at one of our aircraft carriers, one of the biggest ships in the world, actually. And of 101 missiles shot, every single one of them was knocked down.'

But Iranian Navy commander Shahram Irani warned the warship was under constant surveillance ahead of another possible attack.

'The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier is under constant Iranian monitoring and will be targeted as soon as it comes within range of missile systems,' he said, according to the SNN news agency.