TEHRAN — Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi has strongly warned the United States that any military measure against Iran will send the American forces to the bottom of the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. forces will suffer defeat if they begin any confrontation with the Iranian armed forces, Raisi said in an address to a gathering of military forces in the southern port city of Bushehr, Tasnim reported on Friday.

He lauded the Iranian armed forces for contributing to regional security, saying Iran’s military will never allow the Americans, the Europeans and the British to come to the region from the other side of the world and threaten regional security.

The powerful presence of the armed forces will not allow the Americans to sleep peacefully at night in the region, the Judiciary chief warned.

Iranian military and political officials have repeatedly warned the enemies against the dire consequences of a military action against the Islamic Republic.

In remarks in April 2018, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. is aware of the crushing response it will receive in case of taking military action against Iran.

The era of hit and run is now over, and the U.S. knows that if it gets entangled in a military conflict with Iran, it will receive much harsher blows, Ayatollah Khamenei underlined.

The U.S. is seeking a way to evade the costs of standing against Iran and place them on regional countries, the Leader said, reminding certain regional countries that if they confront Iran, “they will definitely suffer blows and defeat”.

Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States after the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror general Qassem Soleimani on January 3.

In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC attacked the U.S. airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the assassination.

Despite initially claiming that the attack resulted in no casualties, the Trump administration has since gradually announced casualties from the Iranian attack, most recently claiming that 64 U.S. troops have suffered from “traumatic brain injuries”.

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Force of the IRGC, said on Thursday that Iran will soon disclose new information about its missile attack against the U.S. base.

MH/PA