Donald Trump issues fresh warning to Iran, says 52 prime locations on US target

Washington : The POTUS on Saturday issued fresh warning to Iran claiming that any threat to the US hostages in the US Embassy in Iran will result in destruction of 52 prime locations.

In a tweet defending Friday's drone strike assassination of a top Iranian general in Iraq, Trump said 52 represents the number of Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late 1979.

Trump said some of these sites are "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"

Trump issued warning with a tweet after a group of pro Iran factions ramped up pressure on the US installations across Iraq with missiles and warnings to Iraqi troops after the killing of Soleimani, described as the second most-powerful man in Iran.

The attack has deepened fears of a major conflagration in the Middle East.

In the first hints of a possible retaliatory response, two mortar rounds hit an area near the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, security sources told AFP.

Almost simultaneously, two rockets slammed into the Al-Balad airbase where American troops are deployed, security sources said.

The Iraqi military confirmed the missile attacks in Baghdad and on al-Balad and said there were no casualties. The US military also said no coalition troops were hurt.