Iran's supreme leader has vowed to take revenge over the death of his father as tensions between Washington and Tehran reach boiling point.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said avenging his predecessor was "the demand of the nation" and "must certainly" take place, just days after a ceasefire agreement between the two nations entirely broke down.
The comments were made in a written message released on his Telegram account following the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held months after he was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the conflict on February 28.
"We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers," Khamenei said in the message.
The stark threat comes as tensions rise with the US, with Donald Trump revealing contingency plans if he were to be killed by Iran after Israeli intelligence warned of an assassination plot.
The President said he instructed US officials to bomb Iran at "levels they've never seen before" if there is a successful attempt on his life.
On Thursday, Israel shared intelligence that Iran had devised a new plan to eliminate Mr Trump.
Responding to the reports, the President told The New York Post: "I've left instructions - if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they've never seen before."
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said avenging his predecessor was 'the demand of the nation'
| GETTYLater, on Truth Social, he said: "1000 Missiles are locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, me!
"Orders have already been given, and the US Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran - praise be to Allah!"
But the President has earlier downplayed the claims of a threat against his life to reporters.
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"Israel came up with nothing," he said. "I've been on their list for a long time. That’s what we're dealing with."
Details of the plot were not immediately clear, and two sources familiar with the matter said the US had not yet vetted it, according to US outlet CNN.
Some US officials felt the Israeli report could be an effort to sway Mr Trump's decision-making after the ceasefire broke on Tuesday.
US officials said an Israeli report concerned a specific, new Iranian assassination plot against Donald Trump | GETTYThe US has demanded Iran publicly state the Strait of Hormuz is open and stop firing on commercial ships in the vital waterway ahead of talks later today.
Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take part in negotiations in Oman, with one US official expecting the vital waterway to be reopened after the meeting.
If the water passage is not opened, it was "not going to be a great day for them", the official added.
"They're either going to give us that statement or we're not having a good outcome for them," an unnamed official told Reuters.