Donald Trump has warned Iran “cannot have nuclear weapons”, hours after he vowed to obliterate the nation if they tried to have him assassinated. Earlier today the second term president signed an order in the Oval Office referring to a "maximum pressure" campaign against the Middle Eastern nation. He later wrote on his Truth platform he wants Iran to be “prosperous” - but without being armed with nuclear weapons.

The 78-year-old said: “I want Iran to be a great and successful country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens are greatly exaggerated. “I would much prefer a verified nuclear peace agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East.”.

This morning, after signing the order in the White House, Trump admitted he was "torn" and was questioned why, since Iranian leaders had threatened to assassinate Trump and his allies following the American drone strike which killed Quds force leader Qasem Soleimani. He responded: "If they did that, they would be obliterated. “I have left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated, there won't be anything left.".

He then slammed President Joe Biden for failing to issue the same stern warning. He said: “Biden should have said that, but he never did. I don't know why. Lack of intelligence perhaps? But he never said it.”. Trump and other US officials have been under Iranian assassination threats since he pulled the US out of the Iranian nuclear deal - before giving the greenlight for Soleimani's assassination at Baghdad airport in January 2020. In November last year, it was reported the FBI thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.

The US Justice Department announced the murder-for-hire plan to kill the 78-year-old, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official to carry out the killing. Investigators learned of the plot while interviewing Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old Afghan national identified by officials as an Iranian government asset who was deported from the US after being imprisoned on robbery charges.

It comes after Palestinians, their allies and other nations reacted strongly to President Trump's proposal the United States "take over" the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its residents. Trump's suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take "ownership" in redeveloping the war-torn territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East.".