Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo Trump threatens Iranian president in ALL CAPS 'NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN,' the president tweets.

President Donald Trump late Sunday evening issued a booming warning to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran rendered in all caps — tweeting that the Middle Eastern leader "WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES" if he threatens the United States.

"To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE," the president blasted online.


"WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" he added.

The post appeared to be in response to comments Rouhani made earlier in the day in which he cautioned Trump about the devastation of a U.S.-Iran wartime conflict and threatened the president, telling him not to interfere with Tehran's government.

“Mr Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret,” Rouhani told a gathering of Iranian diplomats, according to the state news agency IRNA.

“America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Rouhani said, adding: “You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests."

Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency characterized Trump's tweet as "bullying words" and "rhetoric he uses especially in his early-morning tweets." And The Associated Press reports that Gen. Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, a high-ranking Iranian officer, said Monday that Trump’s comments are “psychological warfare” and the president wouldn’t dare use military force against Iran.

While opponents of the president were quick to label his Twitter outburst as a provocation that brought the U.S. closer to armed conflict, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted Monday that it was Iran that was guilty of provoking the U.S. She said Trump would not hesitate to take action against Iran to protect the U.S. and its allies.

"The only person that is inciting anything is Iran. The president has been very, very clear, again, since Day One what his objectives are. And he’s certainly not going to tolerate the leader of Iran making threats against Americans, making threats against this country, making threats against Israel," she told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Monday. "He’s showing peace through strength. But if needed, and steps are required, this president is not afraid to take them."

White House national security adviser John Bolton, in a statement issued via the White House press pool, warned that the president had told him in a recent conversation that “if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before.”

The president's all-caps threat against Iran also followed harsh words for the Islamic Republic from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said in a speech Sunday that Iranian leaders are "hypocritical holy men" who ignore the welfare of their own people.

"The level of corruption and wealth among Iranian leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government," the secretary of state said. "While it is ultimately up to the Iranian people to determine the direction of their country, the United States ... will support the long-ignored voice of the Iranian people."

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman called Pompeo's speech "hypocritical and absurd" and labeled it a "propaganda move."

Trump’s tweet received mixed reaction globally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday applauded Trump’s “strong stance” on Iran, while German Foreign Ministry Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin that “we support dialogue and talks, and we call on all sides to exercise restraint and rhetorical disarmament," according to the AP.

Earlier this year, Trump withdrew the United States from the multi-nation Iran nuclear agreement negotiated during the Obama presidency. “This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” Trump said in withdrawing from the deal on May 8.