It would be big blunder for Iran to try anything against US: Donald Trump

Washington: US President Donald Trump warned on Monday Iran would "suffer greatly" if it targeted US interests after Washington deployed an aircraft carrier and more jet fighters at a time of rising tensions with Tehran.

"We'll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it will be a very bad mistake," Trump told reporters at the White House. "If they do anything they will suffer greatly."

Trump's comments came after the United Arab Emirates reported four commercial vessels had been sabotaged on Sunday near Fujairah emirate just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Iran sought to distance itself from the incident.

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Washington withdrew last year from a 2015 pact between Iran and global powers aimed at reining in Tehran's nuclear plans. Since then, the United States has ratcheted up sanctions on Iran, saying it wanted to reduce its oil exports to zero.

In this Sunday, May 12, 2019 photo released by the U.S. Air Force, a U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft assigned to the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron taxis for takeoff on a runway at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. (Photo:AP)

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled a trip to Moscow on Monday and instead stopped in Brussels to share information on "escalating" threats from Iran with European allies and NATO officials, the US special representative for Iran said.