Iran vows to start a WORLD WAR and destroy Israel if Donald Trump provokes them over their nuclear deal
Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan claims President-elect's threats to pull out of pact this has caused panic among the US allies in the Gulf
DONALD Trump has had a stark warning from the Iranian defence minister who says the President-elect could trigger a world war if he provokes country's in the Middle East.
The billionaire's election victory has highlighted the prospect he could order the US to pull out of a nuclear pact which Barack Obama signed in 2015.
If this goes ahead, it could potentially cause the "destruction" of Israel and other small Gulf Arab States.
Trump was very critical of the agreement which allowed Iran to have sanctions lifted on its oil and industry finance in return for the country having its nuclear program limited.
In September last year, Trump said: "Any commander-in-chief worthy of defending this nation should be prepared to stand up on 20 January 2017 (inauguration day) and rip to shreds this catastrophic deal."
He also branded it the "worst deal ever negotiated" and a "disaster."
Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan now claims this has caused some degree of panic among the US allies in the Gulf.
Speaking at a security conference in Tehran, Iran's Mehr news agency reported he said: "Even though a businessman, the assistants that ... (Trump) has chosen may map a different path for him, and this has led to unease, particularly among Persian Gulf countries.
"Considering Trump's character and that he measures the cost of everything in dollars, it does not seem likely that he would take strong action against our country.
"Enemies may want to impose a war on us based on false calculations and only taking into consideration their material capabilities...
"Such a war would mean the destruction of the Zionist regime (Israel) ... and will engulf the whole region and could lead to a world war."
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Dehghan also discussed the impact on the small city states on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, which include United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
He was quoted as saying: "Among other consequences of the war, would be the destruction of the city-states on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, because they lack popular support."
But not everyone in the area shares Dehghan's feelings - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he was hoping he could work with Trump to dismantle the deal.
He said: "I know Donald Trump. And I think his attitude, his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people."
John Brennan, the outgoing director of the CIA, has highlighted the dismantling the deal would be the "height of folly."
He told the BBC he thought it would be "disastrous" and added: "It really would: for one administration to tear up an agreement that a previous administration made would be almost unprecedented."
Iran has long spoken out of its desire to see Israel destroyed, and the country has fears its nuclear program has been designed to do that.
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