Iran issues stark warning after President Trump orders US Navy 'armada' to Middle East
A top Iranian official said they would target US-linked bases if Trump were to step in
Iran has issued a chilling threat after Donald Trump ordered an 'armada' of US Navy ships to the Middle East.
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The RAF has deployed Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar, as Mr Trump sends a flotilla to Iran.
"We have a big flotilla going in that direction and we’ll see what happens," Mr Trump told reporters after the World Economic Forum at Davos.
The President added: “We have an armada… heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”
In response, a top official said they would target US-linked bases in the Middle East if Trump were to step in.
Ayatollah henchman Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari said: "The one trillion dollars you have invested in the region is under the watch of our missiles."
Read More: Iran death toll reaches 5,000 as blackouts hit two-week mark amid regime's brutal crackdown
Mr Trump insisted on Thursday that he had "stopped 837 hangings" in Iran, telling leaders in Davos that those individuals "would've been dead, everybody would've been hung," had he not intervened and threatened action.
It comes as a nationwide blackout hits its two week mark amid the Islamic regime’s brutal suppression of demonstrations rocking the nation, making the reporting of deaths an even greater challenge.
But the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, whose figures have been accurate in previous waves of unrest, says the death toll has hit at least 5,002.
It says 4,716 people of those killed were demonstrators, and 203 were government-affiliated.
Of those, 43 were children and 40 were civilians not involved in protests, the activists said.
Meanwhile, more than 26,800 people had been detained as it ramps up arrests, the group said.
But some reports suggest the death toll could be closer to 16,000.
Iran's Supreme Leader blamed the US President for the thousands of casualties in the country on the US and Israel.
In return, the US President described Iran's tactics against protests as "ancient" and actions "from a thousand years ago".
MPs have called on the Government this week to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation amid the ongoing protests in Iran.
Labour MP Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster), said her Iranian constituents have called for the “strongest possible action on sanctions” and “fastest possible progress on proscribing the IRGC”.
An MoD spokesman told The Sun: “The deployment, upon invitation of the Qatari government, is in a defensive capacity and builds on the UK’s established defence partnership with Qatar and reflects the UK Government’s commitment to collaborating with international partners to maintain regional stability.”