Iran 'in for a lot of hurt'

Trump’s warning as Israel ramps up air strikes

- BY GILES SHELDRICK Chief Reporter

ISRAEL ramped up its ferocious blitz of Iran as Donald Trump said the rogue state is in “for a lot of hurt”.

Last night the president also revealed that he initiated the joint US-Israeli operation Operation Epic Fury on Saturday.

He said: “I think [Iran] were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand.

“We're hitting them very hard. They no longer have air protection. They no longer have any detection facilities at all left.

“And so they’re going to be in for a lot of hurt. These are bad people.”

On the fourth day of a war that has widened across the Middle East, the US Consulate was in flames.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed a drone hit a parking lot near the Chancery building which caught fire. He added that “our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack from a terroristic regime”.

The blaze was successfully contained, the city’s government said, adding: “Emergency teams responded immediately. No injuries have been reported.” The consulate is situated in a densely populated area of the UAE city, close to the British embassy.

In Tehran, Iran’s presidential compound was pummelled by missiles.