Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the United States on Sunday against making threats at the Islamic republic, vowing that “our armed forces are ready to respond”.

“Don’t they think that if their threats had any effect, they would not have reached today’s state of desperation? We do not take American threats into account,” said Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf, after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran over its support for Hezbollah.

“They would do better to be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they say, we are the ones who act.”

Earlier on Sunday, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble.”

“If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” he added.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by the Tehran-backed militant group attacking Israel in support of Iran in the wider war, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts.