Iran tells UN chief it will respond 'decisively' to US attack after Trump issues new ultimatum

Iran has told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Tehran will consider bases, facilities and assets of the "hostile force" in the region as legitimate targets if it faces military aggression.

US President Donald Trump's rhetoric towards Iran "signals a real risk of military aggression," Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations said in the letter on Thursday, adding Iran did not want a war.

Iran will respond "decisively" if subjected to military aggression, the letter said.

Iran’s reaction came after Trump warned that Iran must make a "meaningful deal" in negotiations with Washington in the next 10 days or else "bad things happen", as he deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the region.

"It's proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen," Trump told the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, his initiative to secure stability in Gaza.

He warned that Washington "may have to take it a step further" without any agreement, adding: "You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days."

Trump's comments came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own warning to Iran saying, "If the ayatollahs make a mistake and attack us, they will receive a response they cannot even imagine".

Military buildup for Iran attack

The warnings were issued days after the US and Iran held a second round of Omani-mediated talks, this time in Geneva, with the US seeking to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, something it says it is not pursuing, and Iran seeking relief from US sanctions.

The US has been building up its military forces near Iran, including warships, fighter jets, and refuelling aircraft, laying the foundation for a potentially sustained offensive against Iran — should Trump give the order.

Washington has ordered a second aircraft carrier to the region, with the first, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its nearly 80 aircraft, positioned about 700 kilometres from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, satellite images showed.

Iran has sought to display its own military might, with its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps holding war games earlier this week in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a major global conduit for oil and gas, with fears of a US-Iran conflict sending oil prices surging this week.

The strait carries a quarter of the world's seaborne oil and a fifth of all liquified natural gas according to the International Energy Agency.

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Source: TRT