Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday the “genocidal taunts” of United States President Donald Trump will not “end Iran”, as tensions spike between the two countries.

“Iranians have stood tall for millennia while aggressors all gone. Economic terrorism and genocidal taunts won’t ‘end Iran’,” Zarif wrote on Twitter. “Never threaten an Iranian. Try respect it works!” he added.

The riposte by Iran’s top diplomat follows an ominous warning by Trump, who on Sunday suggested the Islamic republic would be destroyed if it attacked US interests. “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again,” Trump tweeted.

Relations between Washington and Tehran plummeted a year ago when Trump pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and imposed tough sanctions.

Iranian officials have repeatedly slammed the unilateral US sanctions as “economic terrorism,” saying that they have impeded the flow of essential goods.

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Meanwhile, Britain told Iran yesterday not to underestimate the resolve of the US, warning that if American interests were attacked then the administration of  Trump would retaliate.

“I would say to the Iranians: Do not underestimate the resolve on the U.S. side,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

“They don’t want a war with Iran. But if American interests are attacked, they will retaliate. And that is something that the Iranians needs to think about very, very carefully.”

Tensions have risen further this month with Washington announcing more economic measures against Tehran, before deploying a carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf over unspecified alleged Iranian “threats”.

The Trump administration last week ordered non-essential diplomatic staff out of Iraq, citing the danger posted by Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups.