China Warns Against Military Escalation as Trump Threatens to "Bring Iran Back to Stone Age"

"Military means cannot fundamentally solve any issue, and escalation of the conflict does not serve any party's interest," China Daily quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning as saying.

The response came after Trump said the United States was going to "hit Iran extremely hard over the next two or three weeks", raising concerns over further escalation in West Asia.

Earlier, Donald Trump warned that Iran could face severe military action in the coming weeks amid the ongoing conflict in the region, stating that Washington's action against the Islamic Republic is "on the cusp" of ending what he described as Tehran's "sinister threat" to the US and the world.

Delivering his address to the nation, Trump said that Iran would be hit "extremely hard" amid ongoing diplomatic talks between the two sides in order to sign a deal to end the conflict, which has been going on for over a month.

"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing," the US President said.

He further claimed that there has been a "regime change" following the ongoing US and Israeli military action in Tehran, but clarified that the change was not an official objective of Washington, noting that the military action had already led to significant leadership losses for the Islamic Republic.

"Regime change was not our goal. Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of the deaths of all of their original leaders. They're all dead," Trump said.

The US President further asserted that military operations would continue until Washington's objectives are achieved.

"We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America's objectives shortly, very shortly," he added.

- ANI