A top Iranian commander has warned Donald Trump that the Islamic republic’s forces “are close to you in places you cannot think of” as Tehran ramps up its war of words with the US. The comments by Major General Qassem Soleimani, who commands the Quds, the overseas wing of the elite Revolutionary Guards, imply that Iran is prepared to use its troops and proxies outside the Islamic republic to fight the US. “Mr Trump, the gambler! I tell you that we are close to you in places you cannot think of.
We are a nation of martyrdom . . . We have gone through difficult times,” Gen Soleimani said in a speech on Thursday, according to Iranian news agencies. “Come on! We are waiting for you. We are the men of this field . . . You may start this war but it will be us who decide how to end it.” In some of the toughest language yet used by a top Iranian official towards the US, Gen Soleimani told Mr Trump that Iran would not need to deploy all its armed forces for any possible war with America. “I myself and the Quds forces can defeat you. There is no single night that we sleep without thinking of how to destroy you,” he said. “What the hell did you do with 110,000 forces between 2001 to 2018 [in the region]? Today, you are begging the Taliban [in Afghanistan] to talk to you.” Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated since Mr Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear accord Iran signed with world powers and reimpose sanctions on the republic. T
he US president on Sunday warned Iran that it faced severe “consequences” if it threatened America. That appeared to be in response to Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, saying that Americans should realise that establishing peace with Iran was the “mother of all peace” while conflict would be the “mother of all wars”. Iranians fear that the Trump administration is pushing for regime change as it attempts to isolate he republic and curb its oil exports, its economic lifeline. Analysts have warned that Iran could retaliate by using its proxies, particularly in the Middle East where it has troops and allied Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, against US interests.