Donald Trump has been warned he would be guilty of "genocide" if he were to follow through on a threat to "obliterate" parts of Iran.
Amid heightened tensions between the two countries, the US president said earlier this week that he would authorise a response of "great and overwhelming force" if the Middle Eastern nation attacked "anything American" – adding that some areas would face "obliteration".
In a tweet of his own, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif has said Mr Trump will "endanger peace" if he continues with his aggressive rhetoric.
He told the Republican that "obliteration" would lead to "genocide", which he said was a war crime, and said the prospect of a "short war" with Iran was "an illusion".
"Whoever begins war will not be the one ending it," he said, adding: "Negotiations and threats are mutually exclusive".
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Mr Zarif also hit out at fresh US sanctions imposed on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates, which have been described by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as "outrageous and idiotic".
Iran has said the sanctions could spell a "permanent closure" to diplomacy between the two countries after Tehran shot down an unmanned American drone last week.
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Mr Trump initially told reporters the sanctions were in response to the attack on the aircraft, but later claimed they would have been imposed regardless of the incident.
Russia has said it would counteract the sanctions on Tehran, which it has branded "illegal", and called for dialogue between the US and Iran.
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