Trump threatens to 'completely decimate' Iran a day after agreeing to more talks

US President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran overnight, vowing to 'completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran' should there be an assassination attempt against him. The threat came after funeral ceremonies for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who died at the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict in February. Mourners took to the streets holding signs calling for the deaths of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump wrote that '1,000 missiles are locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow' if the Iranian government acts on its threat. He signed off with the phrase 'praise be to Allah,' which he also used in a post threatening Iran last April.

On Friday, the US President said he had agreed to continue talks with Iran but reiterated that the ceasefire outlined in the June 'memorandum of understanding' was over. Under the provisional agreement, Washington and Tehran had agreed to cease hostilities. The US would remove its naval blockade of Iran, while Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reaffirm that it would not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The memorandum gave the two sides 60 days to achieve a final deal.

However, a series of retaliatory strikes this week has threatened to undermine efforts to reach a final agreement. US Central Command announced fresh strikes against Iranian air defense and other military targets on Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting around 170 targets. In response, Iran attacked several US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran had 'kept its word' on the ceasefire, accusing the US Treasury of violating paragraph nine of the memorandum by imposing new sanctions on an Iranian financier and exchange houses. That paragraph states that the US will not impose new sanctions or deploy additional forces in the region. Araghchi is set to travel to Oman for talks on the strait. A British maritime agency reported multiple strikes on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz this week. Qatar blamed Iran for a strike on a Qatari vessel, though Tehran denied the claim. A Qatari delegation was in Tehran to reinforce Qatar's role as a mediator.