Iran issues chilling assassination threat to Trump as tensions spiral: ‘This time, the bullet will not miss the target’: Live updates

Iranian state TV has reportedly aired images of Donald Trump when he a bullet grazed his ear during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.

Text over the image said, ‘This time, the bullet won’t miss.’

Qatar’s International Media Office (IMO) responded to reports US military officials were advised to evacuate from Al Udeid Air Base.

IMO wrote on X that ‘such measures were being undertaken in response to the current regional tensions.

‘The IMO reaffirms that the State of Qatar continues to implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and residents as a top priority, including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities.’

Donald Trump has frozen visa processing for 75 countries, including Russia and Iran, as the president threatens military strikes against the ayatollah.

The State Department directed consular offices to deny visas in an internal memo sent on Wednesday as the government re-examines screening and vetting procedures.

It is unclear whether the decision is directly linked to ongoing military preparations for Iran but it comes as Trump has threatened strikes on the Islamic regime amid a bloody crackdown that has left at least 2,500 protesters dead.

The State Department is expected to implement the indefinite freeze on January 21.

The Trump administration insists it has multiple ways to respond if Iran keeps violently crushing demonstrators – but America’s military muscle in the region has quietly shrunk.

Key warships and thousands of troops have been redeployed to the Caribbean for operations against Venezuela, while a major defense system was sent back to South Korea.

Also of note, the US has no aircraft carrier in the Middle East, as it was sent to the Caribbean late last year to aid in Venezuela’s operation.

The US Virtual Embassy in Tehran issued it’s third warning since January 9 advising Americans to leave Iran.

‘US citizens should leave Iran now. Consider departing Iran by land to Türkiye or Armenia, if safe to do so,’ the embassy said.

Britain is joining the United States in removing some personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the i newspaper reported ​on Wednesday.

The head of Iran’s judiciary signaled there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests, despite warnings from Donald Trump that the US would respond with military action.

‘If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,’ Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said in a video shared by Iranian state television online.

‘If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast.’

Pictured: Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei in 2005

Leonid Slutsky, who heads the International Affairs Committee of Russia’s lower house of parliament has warned that an American attack on Iran risks further destabilising the Middle East.

He said: ‘If the White House decides on aggression against Tehran, it will be Washington’s gravest mistake.

‘In its oil frenzy, the United States is prepared to blow up not only the commodities markets … but also to effectively destabilise the entire region’.

He also claimed the West has ‘effectively signed off on this by calling on protesters to continue street clashes and to overthrow the lawfully elected authorities’.

At least 3,428 have been killed in Iran’s crackdown on protesters, rights groups have said

Two European officials told Reuters that a US military intervention appeared likely, with one saying it could come in the next 24 hours