New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump has warned of launching another round of military strikes against Iran - what he called a "little Epic Fury" - if Tehran fails to reach an agreement with Washington.
"We may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree. If they're smart, they'll just say, let's get down to business," he said during a Republican campaign rally in Florida.
Trump, however, did not outline the conditions Iran would have to meet to prevent another round of military action.
'Operation Epic Fury' was a joint military campaign launched by the US and Israel against Iran in February that triggered the months-long ongoing war. The attack resulted in the death of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family members.
During his address, Trump also referred to the other previous military action against Iran - Operation Midnight Hammer - claiming they had destroyed the country's nuclear enrichment capabilities and severely weakened its military and economy. "We obliterated Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer...We defeated them militarily, financially and otherwise, and now we are ensuring it's done," he said.
US to strike Iran this weekend?
Trump's remarks came hours after a US envoy said they could strike Iran "as soon as this weekend".
"Could there be a strike this weekend? Absolutely. President Trump is very clear. He's open and available and accessible to a deal, and we've been at the table for months and months and months," Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and point man on Syria who does not have a direct role in Iran, said during a podcast with Mario Nawfal.
Although the President briefly downplayed Barrack's remarks, saying, "That was my ambassador? He's a pretty powerful man, I guess. If that's the case, I don't know anything about it."
Trump on ending Iran war
According to Trump, he sees ending the war with Iran "soon".
"I see it ending one way or another, through agreement or otherwise," he told a local Florida media outlet, but did not provide a timetable or specify whether negotiations were underway.
Trump maintained that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remained the overriding objective of American military operations and argued that the earlier administrations had failed to address the threat.
"I had to attack Iran, or they would have had a nuclear weapon," he said.
Iran's warning to US
Iran has warned the US to "not play with fire" as it drew up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if Washington and Israel attack Iran again, reported news agency Reuters.
According to the report, an Iranian official said that the country would aim to prevent repairs after any attacks to prolong disruptions to communications, including internet connections.
"If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines...from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones. US should not play with fire," the official said.
Advanced Iranian plots warning
US intelligence warned that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American officials, with some lethal plots now at an advanced stage, as Washington pulled diplomats out of Saudi Arabia and trimmed staff at several other embassies in the region.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a one-page unclassified memo dated October 23, Axios reported.
The memo, however, did not name any targets, the countries outside the Middle East, or the nature of the plots.
Earlier this week, the US ordered the departure of non-emergency staff from the US Embassy in Riyadh and the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran. Later, staff reductions were carried out at the US embassies in the UAE, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan, with diplomats describing the process as "chaotic".
(With inputs from agencies)