Featured Image Credit: REBECCA DROKE / Contributor / Getty
It's not just words being fired across the world, as the situation between the USA and Iran escalates. Missiles continue to be launched in the aftermath of February 28's Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
There was an almost immediate counterattack, with Iran using its own futuristic weapons to hit back at countries including Bahrain, Iraq, and the UAE. This resulted in six U.S. fatalities from a strike on a military base in Kuwait, while further casualties have been reported from the much-debated Strait of Hormuz, and the total death toll stands at anywhere between 2,200 and 5,000.
Although President Donald Trump has claimed "the war is very complete" and Iran is running out of options, a defiant message supporting Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader suggests otherwise.
Mojtaba Khamenei stepped up after his father was killed in the February 28 attacks, and even though the POTUS remains adamant that things are already winding down, Iran's political powers have issued their own threat.
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The president took to Truth Social to reiterate his plans for the total destruction of Iran's nuclear program, adding that "death, fire, and fury will reign upon them [Iran's citizens]."
With the eyes of the world on the Strait of Hormuz, Trump warned that America would hit Iran '20 times harder' if it restricted oil flow through the passage.
As well as being responsible for transporting around 20% of the world's oil supply out into the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Hormuz is only 32km wide at its narrowest point, making it a concerning bottleneck in the conflict.
Responding to Trump's fiery post, Ali Ardashir Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said: "The Ashura nation of Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Be careful not to be eliminated."
Larijani concluded: "Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Tehran, March 19, 1404 - 10 days after the martyrdom of His Holiness Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei."
Following Khamenei's assassination, Larijani took to national television and vowed to hold Trump responsible for his death.
The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, in a post this morning directed at Trump: “Watch out for yourself—lest you be eliminated!” pic.twitter.com/FnnxJ8RUsn
— Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) March 10, 2026
There has already been one foiled attempt against the president's life, with a federal court recently ruling that 47-year-old Asif Merchant (also known as Asif Raza Merchant) was involved in a 2024 murder for hire plot, also attempting to commit an act of terrorism.
Merchant admitted at trial that he was trained by Iran’s global terrorist force and sent to the USA to steal documents and conduct political assassinations.
Speaking in a March 4 press conference, Pete Hegseth said: "Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh."
Returning to the current situation, the secretary of war also boasted about the sinking of an Iranian warship and added: "This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it’s not a fair fight… they’re going down.
"More and larger waves are coming; we are just getting started."
Despite Trump's confidence that the war is over, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps responded with its own clear message, stating: "We are the ones who will determine the end of the war."
