Top Iranian commander says Tehran ready to respond to any US military action

An Iranian military commander on Thursday said President Trump should address any threats against Tehran directly to him.

Major-General Qassem Soleimani, who leads the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, called it his “duty” to respond to Trump’s comments earlier this week that Iran would face extreme consequences for threatening the U.S., Reuters reported, citing Iranian news agencies.

“If he wants to use the language of threat, he should talk to me, not to the president,” Soleimani said, referring to President Hassan Rouhani.

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“We are ready,” he continued. “If you begin the war, we will end the war.”

Rouhani recently warned the U.S. that war with Iran is “the mother of all wars.” He also suggested negotiations were possible, adding that peace with Iran is “the mother of all peace.”

In response, Trump issued a tweet in which he said Iran would face “CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE” if it threatened the U.S. again.

In May, Trump stoked uncertainty about the future of U.S.-Iran relations when he withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, an Obama-era agreement that lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for the country abandoning its nuclear program.

The other countries involved in the Iran deal have vowed to uphold the agreement.