US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Iran of another potential military strike if Tehran fails to reach a diplomatic agreement with Washington, saying the US could launch “another little Epic Fury”.Trump referred to the initial US military operation “Epic Fury” that began the US-Iran war.“We may do another little Epic Fury, or they’ll agree,” Trump said while addressing a campaign rally in Florida.“If they’re smart, they’ll just say, ‘Let’s get down to business.’ But, you know, I doubt they’ll do that because perhaps they’re not smart,” he added.Trump also referred to US warships returning from the Middle East and suggested they could stop near Cuba before sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pursue diplomatic objectives.“We’re gonna come back from Iran; those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They’ll raise up their hands and then we’re gonna send Marco Rubio in to finish up the job,” he said.
Threats to American officials?
Meanwhile, Axios reported that a new US intelligence memo found Iran had “substantially increased” efforts to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East. The report also said plots against US diplomats were reaching “advanced stages”.According to Axios, the memo was addressed to Rubio.US officials are also concerned that Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen could expand their attacks beyond Saudi Arabia to other countries in the region.The memo came shortly after the US state department announced a reduction in staffing at its embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The three officials said the staffing changes were linked to threats from Iran and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, AP reported.All four embassies are operating under “restricted operations” status, which has already reduced their staffing levels. However, they will remain open.Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where non-essential US government employees and their family members were ordered to leave on Wednesday, staff at the embassies in the other four countries are not required to depart.
Iran threatens to cut undersea internet cables
Tehran has warned of targeting the undersea communication infrastructure if US-Israel revert to strikes, Reuters reported, citing two anonymous Iranian officials“If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines … from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones,” one of the officials said.The official warned Washington not to “play with fire”, and said Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them.On Wednesday, deputy head of political affairs for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Yadollah Javani, said Iran could target seven major internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack. Reuters reported.Undersea cables carry around 99 per cent of global internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency. However, as cited by Reuters, the global impact of such attacks by Iran could be limited, as less than one per of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz.