MNA � US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran �1000 times greater in magnitude� following a false report of a US media on alleged Iran plan to assassinate a US diplomat.

Pointing to the report by Politico, Trump tweeted �Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude!�

Citing unnamed US officials, the US outlet claimed that Iran was weighing to assassinate US Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks in response to the US� assassination of top Iranian commander, Qassim Soleimani.

Tehran has dismissed the report as �lie�. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh urged American officials to �stop resorting to hackneyed and outworn methods to create an Iranophobic atmosphere on the international arena.�

�As a responsible member of the international community, the Islamic Republic of Iran has demonstrated its constant commitment to the international diplomatic principles and customs,� Khatibzadeh said, adding, �On the contrary, it is the US and the incumbent regime at the White House that, particularly in recent years, has ignored the basic diplomatic principles and has become a rogue regime in the international arena.�

In his tweets, Trump has leveled accusations against Iran by relying on "press reports� which seems totally odd of a person who can access data provided by intelligence agencies. This indicates that whether Trump has a problem with the country�s intelligence services or the Politico�s source does not exist.

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly attacked US media as being �fake� and �liar� in recent years, so the question is how come he has put trust in such a report.

The latest polls show that Trump is behind his Democratic rival Joe Biden and these threats can be considered as a tool in his election campaign.

On Trump�s order, General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran�s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, and a group of their companions lost their lives in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

The two commanders were highly popular because of the key role they played in eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.