A high-ranking Iranian official has issued a direct threat to Donald Trump as a US aircraft carrier moved toward the Middle East amid rising tension with Tehran. At least 2,400 demonstrators are believed to have been killed across Iran during more than two weeks of widespread protests that have shaken the country’s Islamic leadership, US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said. 

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that he may consider military action if Iranian security forces harm peaceful protesters. He has also pledged to respond with “very strong action” should any detained demonstrators be executed.

Since Mr Trump’s threat of action against the regime, Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, issued a direct warning to the US President. He said: “Trump has said his hand is on the trigger. We will cut off his hand and his finger.” Mr Rezaei added that Iran would no longer accept a ceasefire if the country is attacked. 

He also said: “If we move forward, there will be no talk of a ceasefire anymore. You do not pay attention to the restraint and strategic patience we have shown. Stop right now. Step back, otherwise none of your bases in the region will be safe.”

Mr Rezaei is a highly influential figure within Iran’s political and military establishment. His prominence began with his long tenure as commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a position he held from 1980 to 1997 during some of the country’s most formative years.

After leaving that role, he transitioned into senior positions within the government, including serving as vice president for economic affairs and acting as secretary of the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination, a key body that shapes national economic policy.

He is also an important member of the Principlist Resistance Front of Islamic Iran, aligning him with conservative political forces that support the Islamic Republic’s foundational ideology.

The warning comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has moved west from the Indo-Pacific region, satellite data from Copernicus shows. It includes fighter jets, guided missile destroyers and an attack submarine

The movement of the ship to the Middle East would take around a week, sources told The Hill. 

On Thursday, Mr Trump warned Tehran’s leadership that any further killing will have “grave consequences” as he continues to “closely monitor” the situation on the ground in Iran.

He has refused to rule out strikes on Iran, although he paused his threat of imminent strikes on Wednesday as Iran said it would not execute a protester following more than two weeks of bitter nationwide unrest. The White House said that so far 800 executions had been halted in what appeared to be a de-escalation in Iran.