'Another little Epic Fury': Trump warns as Iran says 'don't play with fire'

“We may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree,” Trump said while addressing a campaign rally in Florida (Photo: Reuters).US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Iran of another potential military strike if Tehran fails to reach a diplomatic agreement with Washington, saying the US could launch “another little Epic Fury”.Trump referred to the initial US military operation “Epic Fury” that began the US-Iran war.“We may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree,” Trump said while addressing a campaign rally in Florida.“If they're smart, they'll just say, 'Let's get down to business.' But, you know, I doubt they'll do that because perhaps they're not smart,” he added.Trump also referred to US warships returning from the Middle East and suggested they could stop near Cuba before sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pursue diplomatic objectives.“We're gonna come back from Iran; those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands and then we're gonna send Marco Rubio in to finish up the job,” he said.Threats to American officials?Meanwhile, Axios reported that a new US intelligence memo found Iran had “substantially increased” efforts to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East. The report also said plots against US diplomats were reaching “advanced stages”.According to Axios, the memo was addressed to Rubio.US officials are also concerned that Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen could expand their attacks beyond Saudi Arabia to other countries in the region.The US Department of State has ordered non-emergency government personnel and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia amid security concerns.Addressing reports that Washington was preparing to issue departure orders across multiple Gulf embassies, department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the measure applied only to Saudi Arabia, ANI reported.“This is inaccurate. The U.S. Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only,” Pigott wrote in a post on X.Explaining the security concerns behind the decision, Pigott said Iran-backed Houthi forces had stepped up hostilities against Saudi Arabia.“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” he added.Iran threatens to cut undersea internet cablesTehran has warned of targeting the undersea communication infrastructure if US-Israel revert to strikes, Reuters reported, citing two anonymous Iranian officials"If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines ... from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones," one ​of the officials said.The official warned Washington not to "play with fire", and said Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them.On Wednesday, deputy head of political affairs for Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Yadollah ​Javani, said Iran could target seven major internet cables beneath ⁠the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack. Reuters reported.Undersea cables carry around 99 per cent of global internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency. However, as cited by Reuters, the ​global impact of such attacks by Iran could be limited, as less than one per of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz.