Iranian adviser drops chilling hint of attacks on Trump properties

An adviser to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani last night dropped a chilling hint of an attack on Donald Trump's property empire in revenge for the death of military commander Qassem Soleimani.

Hesameddin Ashena shared a link to a Forbes article listing all of Trump's properties in New York, his hotels and resorts across America and golf courses in the US and Britain.

The list included the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where the president was staying when he ordered the hit on Soleimani, as well as the Trump International Hotels in Washington and Las Vegas and his New York tower with its Fifth Avenue entrance.

Iran has already threatened the White House and the Rouhani adviser declared yesterday that Tehran's 'sole problem is Trump' rather than the American people - dropping another hint of a direct reprisal against him.

Tehran has sworn revenge for Soleimani's death and yesterday announced it was abandoning its remaining nuclear limits under the 2015 deal.

Today Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wept over Soleimani's coffin as hundreds of thousands joined a funeral march in Tehran.

Speaking to the crowds, the military commander's daughter Zeinab declared that 'families of U.S. soldiers in the Middle East will spend their days waiting for the death of their children'.

Trump has threatened his own retaliation if Iran hits US targets, warning of a 'disproportionate response' including cultural sites.

Today the president vowed in a capital-letters tweet that 'IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON' despite Tehran's latest move away from the nuclear deal.

In the firing line? Donald Trump's resort at Mar-a-Lago, Florida (pictured), where he was holidaying when he ordered the hit against Soleimani

Hesameddin Ashena shared a link to a Forbes article listing all of Trump's properties in New York, including these four Manhattan skyscrapers

The tweet by an Iranian presidential adviser made a veiled threat against Trump Organization properties including a series of Trump International hotels (pictured)

The Mar-a-Lago estate where Trump spent the Christmas holidays is also on the list, along with a winery in Virginia and golf courses in America, Britain and Ireland

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mocked Trump by boasting about the 'sea of humanity' at Soleimani's funeral;

Trump defended his plans to target 52 cultural sites in Iran despite Democratic claims that he was preparing to commit war crimes;

The president warned of sanctions against Iraq over its plans to expel US troops, but Germany called the threats 'unhelpful';

A former head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to turn the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv 'to dust';

Oil prices jumped to their highest level since September, surpassing $70 per barrel, amid fears that Iran could harass ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

'We have ZERO problems with the American people. We even achieved deals with previous US administrations,' Rouhani's adviser Ashena said on Twitter last night.

'Our sole problem is Trump. In the event of war, it is he who will bear full responsibility.'

The list of properties on the article he shared included Trump Tower as well as other New York City residences including Trump Parc East.

Elsewhere in America, the properties include hotels in Washington, Chicago and Las Vegas as well as a winery in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Iranians carry the coffin during the funeral ceremony of Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Forces, who was killed in a U.S. drone airstrike in Iraq

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (fourth from left) wept over the remains of Qassem Soleimani as thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran for the second day of the general's funeral

Mourners gather in Tehran to pay their respects to a military commander who was hailed as a hero by many Iranians

Protesters staged a symbolic 'execution' of a Donald Trump effigy during the funeral ceremony of Qassem Soleimani

The Mar-a-Lago estate where Trump spent the Christmas holidays is also on the list, along with golf courses in Britain and Ireland.

The location of the properties is no secret, and many of them are named after Trump, but the post by a senior Iranian adviser was a clear hint of a possible strike against Trump's real estate empire.

Ashena has previously spoken of 'unseating' Trump from office, writing in July that 'we'll make sure he stays a one-term President' if he continued to listen to Mike Pompeo.

'We have unseated an American President in the past. We can do it again,' he said, presumably referring to Jimmy Carter who was brought low by the Iran hostage crisis which began in 1979.

One Iranian MP has already threatened explicitly to target the White House, warning of an attack on the US mainland in retaliation for Soleimani's death.

'We can attack the White House itself, we can respond to them on the American soil,' Abolfazl Aboutorabi told a session of parliament.

Iranians set a US and Israeli flag on fire during Monday's funeral procession for military commander Qasem Soleiman

Soleimani's successor Esmail Qaani cries over the coffin of his assassinated predecessor during the funeral in Tehran today

One funeral organiser has called on every Iranian to donate money towards an $80million bounty on Trump's head, according to Iranian television.

Among a series of Iranian threats, Soleimani's daughter Zeinab directly threatened an attack on U.S. forces in the region as she spoke to wailing crowds in Tehran.

'The families of U.S. soldiers in the Middle East will spend their days waiting for [the] death of their children,' she said to cheers today.

Warning of a 'dark day' looming for the United States, she said: 'Crazy Trump, don't think that everything is over with my father's martyrdom.'

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today shared pictures of the huge 'sea of humanity' at the funeral - taunting Trump who is famously attentive to crowd sizes.

'Do you still want to listen to the clowns advising you on our region?,' he asked. 'And do you still imagine you can break the will of this great nation and its people?'

Esmail Qaani, who has succeeded Soleimani as commander of the Revolutionary Quards' powerful Quds Force, also swore revenge in an interview with state TV which was aired today.

'God the almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger. Certainly actions will be taken,' he said.

'We promise to continue down martyr Soleimani's path as firmly as before with help of God, and in return for his martyrdom we aim to get rid of America from the region.'

A former head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards also threatened on Sunday to turn the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv 'to dust' if the US attacks targets in Iran.

Hesameddin Ashena (left) last night dropped a chilling hint of an Iranian attack on Donald Trump 's property empire after the death of military commander Qassem Soleimani (right)

Mourning: Thousands of people gathered in Tehran for the second day of Qassem Soleimani's funeral after he was killed in a US drone strike on Friday

The flag-draped coffin of Qassem Soleimani is passed over the heads of mourners at his funeral in the centre of Tehran today

The head of the Guard's aerospace program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, suggested Iran's response wouldn't stop with a single attack.

'Firing a couple of missiles, hitting a base or even killing Trump is not valuable enough to compensate for martyr Soleimani's blood,' Hajizadeh said on state TV.

'The only thing that can compensate for his blood is the complete removal of America from the region and taking away their evil from the oppressed people of the region.'

In a more bizarre pronouncement, cleric Shahab Moradi said Iran could not strike back in kind because all of America's 'heroes' were fictional characters.

'Think about it. Are we supposed to take out Spider-Man and SpongeBob?,' he wondered aloud on Iranian TV.

Nonetheless, American forces are braced for a real-life retaliation and the US-led coalition against ISIS said in a statement yesterday that it was pausing its fight against the jihadists to shore up its own defences.

There are also fears that Iran will harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical to the world's oil supply.

A 2014 file photo shows the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Manhattan, New York City

The Trump International Hotel in Washington, which was once the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue

Headquarters: The Fifth Avenue entrance of Trump Tower, the headquarters of the Trump Organization and the president's 2020 re-election campaign

Pictured: Par 3, 15th hole on the Ailsa Course at the Trump Turnberry Resort on July 15, 2019 in Turnberry, Scotland

Pictured: A 2015 file photo of the Trump hotel and tower in Las Vegas

The global benchmark for crude oil rose above $70 a barrel on Monday for the first time in over three months.

In a series of sabre-rattling tweets, Trump has warned that the US will 'quickly and fully strike back, and perhaps in a disproportionate manner' if Iran aims fire at US targets.

Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington last night, Trump stood by his targeting of cultural sites despite claims of potential war crimes.

'They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way,' Trump said.

Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for her party's presidential nomination, said Trump was 'threatening to commit war crimes'.

The president's critics have also accused him of launching the attack on Soleimani to boost his popularity before he faces an impeachment trial in the coming weeks.

In Britain, a spokesman for prime minister Boris Johnson issued a warning over Trump's plans, saying there were international conventions in place to stop the destruction of cultural heritage.

The Rouhani adviser declared yesterday that Tehran's 'sole problem is Trump' rather than the American people (Trump is pictured on Friday after Soleimani's death was announced)

Hesameddin Ashena shared a link to a Forbes article listing nine of Trump's properties in New York as well as hotels and golf courses elsewhere in America

Trump has also warned he will demand billions of dollars in compensation from Iran's neighbour Iraq or impose 'sanctions like they've never seen before' if Baghdad goes through with expelling U.S. troops - which could spark an ISIS resurgence.

The sanctions would make those on Iran look 'tame', Trump said, adding: 'We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that's there... we're not leaving unless they pay us back for it.'

Today German foreign minister Heiko Maas said threatening Iraq was 'not very helpful'. Germany has a small contingent of troops there training Iraqi forces.

Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport on Friday.

His remains were flown back to Iran last night, carried in a cardboard box which had its own row of seats on a passenger jet.

Tensions between Iran and the West had been ratcheting up for months, peaking last summer when a series of Gulf tankers were hit by mysterious explosions which Washington blamed on Iran.

The last straw was an attack by a pro-Iran mob on the US embassy in Baghdad this week, where demonstrators burned the entrance to the compound and besieged diplomats inside.

A tearful Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) prayed over the remains of Qassem Soleimani as hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran for the second day of the general's funeral today

In a further sign of tension, Iran yesterday abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal in response to the airstrike.

Under the deal, Tehran had pledged to reduce its nuclear capacities for several years, including by capping its enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent, far below the more than 90 percent required for a nuclear weapon.

Iran has already overstepped some of the limits since Trump pulled out of the deal last year, which include restrictions on Iran's supply of centrifuges and the level to which uranium can be enriched.

Tehran insisted that it remains open to negotiations with European countries and maintains that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon.

Russia today urged parties to the Iran nuclear deal to treat salvaging the agreement as a 'priority', calling on European partners to fulfil their obligations.

Germany also joined France and Britain in urging Iran to refrain from taking 'further violent actions or support for them'.

'It is crucial now to de-escalate,' Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson said in a joint statement last night.

EU foreign ministers will hold emergency talks on the Iran crisis on Friday, diplomats said today.

The United Nations' atomic watchdog agency says its inspectors are continuing to monitor and verify Iran's nuclear activities.