Iran's security chief Ali Larijani issued a veiled threat to US President Donald Trump, reports "Agence France-Presse".
He warned him to be careful "not to be eliminated" and said the Islamic Republic is not afraid of his "empty threats".
"Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. "Even greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation," Larijani wrote on the social network X.
He made his comment in response to a post by Trump in which he threatened to hit Iran harder if it stopped oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"Be careful not to be eliminated!", Larijani advised.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stressed that "if Iran does anything that stops oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit by us so far."
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran that killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked a war that has engulfed the entire Middle East.
Iran responded with strikes with drones and missiles aimed at Israel and countries in the region.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries nearly 20% of the world's crude oil, has been severely disrupted.
Iranian forces have threatened to block "the export of even one liter of oil from the region" to allies of the United States and Israel as the war continues.