Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Times of India
The Times of India
World
TOI World Desk

Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth’s 'back to the Stone Age' threat to Iran draws swift consulate response

US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned that Iran would be hit “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks, saying US action would “bring them back to the Stone Age” as the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States continues to deepen and tensions soar in the Middle East.

“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,” Trump said in an address to the nation. He also stated 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.

The remarks come amid ongoing hostilities between the United States and Iran, with the conflict continuing for over a month.

US secretary of war Pete Hegseth also posted on X reiterating the “back to the Stone Age” remark.

The Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mumbai on hit back and slammed US secretary of war Pete Hegseth over his reiterating Trump’s remark during the address from the White House, where he stated that Iran would be hit so hard that it would go “back to the Stone Age”, ANI reported.

In a post on X, the Iranian consulate quipped about Washington’s agenda behind its military action against the Islamic Republic, noting that its earlier stance was to make Iran “Great Again”, which it said had now shifted drastically.

129969338

“They said Iran needed to be ‘Great Again.’ Now suddenly the goalpost is… the Stone Age? Funny thing... civilizations that go back to empires like the Achaemenids don’t really do ‘again.’ They just are,” the consulate said.

The consulate further stated that civilisations that originated since the Achaemenid Empire back in 550 BC "are already great", underscoring Tehran’s rejection of what it described as aggressive rhetoric while highlighting Iran’s historical and cultural heritage spanning one of the world’s earliest empires.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.