President Trump issued a dire warning to Iran via his Twitter stream Sunday afternoon, in the midst of escalating tensions between the country and the United States. The tweet is just two weeks after National Security Advisor John Bolton announced the deployment of a carrier strike group to the region to send an "unmistakable message."

"If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran," Trump said on Twitter. "Never threaten the United States again."



The "end" is a pretty unambiguous threat of force. The threats the President is referring to, and which were outlined previously by Bolton, include intelligence assessment that Iran and its proxies could be planning to undertake attacks on Americans in Iraq, and participating in terrorist actions in Gaza against Israel, not to mention Iran's renewed interest in pursuing nuclear programs.

The State Department withdrew non-essential personnel from Iraq in light of that threat.

This is a developing story.