Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Sunday ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Iran, warning that a fight with the United States would "be the official end of Iran."

"If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran," Trump said in a tweet. "Never threaten the United States again!"

The tweet comes amid rising fears over a potential military confrontation between the two countries. Officials in Washington are debating recent intelligence regarding whether Iran or the militias it supports are possibly planning to attack US assets or whether it is acting defensively in an attempt to deter US action.

But Trump took a seemingly more subdued tone in an interview with Fox News that aired Sunday evening.

"I just don't want them to have nuclear weapons, and they can't be threatening us. And with all of everything that's going on, and I'm not one that believes -- you know, I'm not somebody that wants to go into war, because war hurts economies, war kills people most importantly -- by far most importantly," he said.

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