One of Iran’s top officials issued a stark warning to President Donald Trump on Thursday, cautioning that any U.S. military action would lead to retaliation against American forces throughout the Middle East, as reported by Iranian media.
This warning coincides with information verified by Fox News Digital, revealing that at least one U.S. aircraft carrier is being repositioned towards the Middle East in response to escalating tensions with Tehran.
General Mohsen Rezaei of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who is also a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, reportedly delivered this threat in a public statement.
According to Iran International, Rezaei declared, “Trump has said his hand is on the trigger. We will cut off his hand and his finger.”
General Mohsen Rezaei’s direct threat against President Trump comes as the U.S. moves an aircraft carrier closer to the region amidst growing tensions with Iran, reports indicate. (Photo: Ayoub Ghaderi/YJC/WANA via REUTERS)
Additionally, the outlet reported that Rezaei asserted Iran would reject any ceasefire if they were attacked.
“If we move forward, there will be no talk of a ceasefire anymore,” he said. “You do not pay attention to the restraint and strategic patience we have shown. Stop right now. Step back, otherwise none of your bases in the region will be safe,” Rezaei added.
The threat surfaced as at least one U.S. aircraft carrier could be moving toward the Middle East, according to sources.
Officials have not disclosed whether it is USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that departed Norfolk and San Diego earlier this week.
Military sources said transit to the region could take at least a week, with additional U.S. air, land and sea assets expected to follow to provide Trump with military options should he order strikes against Iran.
In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, a RIM-7P NATO Sea Sparrow Missile launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). (M. Jeremie Yoder/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Rezaei is one of Iran’s most powerful military figures. He served as commander in chief of the IRGC from 1980 to 1997 and is currently vice president for economic affairs, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for Economic Coordination and a senior figure in the Principlist Resistance Front of Islamic Iran.
In 2006, Argentine authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Rezaei in connection with the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January 2020 under Executive Order 13876 for advancing Iran’s destabilizing objectives.
During his tenure, the IRGC expanded repression at home and supported terrorist proxy groups abroad, including Hezbollah.
Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Meanwhile, unrest inside Iran continued into its 19th day. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 2,677 arrests have been recorded with 1,693 additional cases under investigation.
Another agency also reported expanded communication blackouts, including the shutdown of landlines in some areas.
“They are continuing as before, but not at the pace before the slaughter of thousands and the arrests,” Ali Safavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) told Fox News Digital, claiming as many as 50,000 detainees.
“There is still a total shutdown of the internet. Security forces are raiding residential areas and going to people’s rooftops. They started destroying satellite dishes,” Safavi said before describing clashes continuing through Wednesday night into Thursday in Tehran and Kermanshah, including gunfire.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi also urged the international community to act immediately to secure the release of detainees and demanded an urgent international fact-finding mission to Iran’s prisons.
