An Iranian top official issued a warning that if any attacks occur on Iran, they will respond to it "as an all-out war against us" ahead of the arrival of a US aircraft carrier strike group and other military support in the Middle East in the coming days.
The warning comes almost two weeks after President Donald Trump called for those who protested in Iran, many of which have been shot by Iranian military personnel, to keep up the fight and promised that "help is on the way".
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What did Iran say?
"This military buildup - we hope it is not intended for real confrontation - but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran," the senior Iranian official was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"This time we will treat any attack - limited, unlimited, surgical, kinetic, whatever they call it - as an all-out war against us, and we will respond in the hardest way possible to settle this," the official added.
The news agency further reported the official saying that "if America violates Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond". However, the official declined to clarify what the Iranian response would look like.
The Iranian official asserted that a country facing constant military threats from the United States has no choice but to ensure that all its resources can be used to defend itself and, "if possible, restore balance against anyone who attacks Iran".
Trump's statements
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump indicated to reporters onboard Air Force One that the United States has sent an aircraft carrier strike group towards Iran. He compared the deployment of this carrier group to an "armada" and expressed his hope it would not have to be used against Tehran in retaliation for either killing protestors or recommencing its nuclear programme.
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"We're watching Iran… you know we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case… we have a big flotilla going in that direction and we'll see what happens… we have a big force going towards Iran. I'd rather not see anything happening but we're watching them very closely," said Trump.
He added that on Thursday "837 mostly young men were going to be hung". "And I said, if you hang those people, you're going to be hit harder than you've ever been hit. It will make what we did to your Iran nuclear look like peanuts... we have an armada, a massive fleet heading in that direction," Trump had said, mentioning the "cancelled" executions in between.
