Iran has issued a fresh warning to the United States after President Donald Trump ordered a major naval deployment towards the country and said Washington was “watching” Tehran closely, amid escalating tensions following a deadly crackdown on protests ordered by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The warning came as a senior Iranian cleric, Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, said Tehran could target US-linked investments across the Middle East if Washington moved to strike Iran. “The one trillion dollars you have invested in the region is under the watch of our missiles,” he said.

The standoff has intensified after Trump issued renewed threats against Iran over reports of executions of protesters, warning of severe consequences if they continued. The US president confirmed that a large naval force, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers, was en route to the region, though he said he hoped it would not be used.

“We have an armada… heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said, adding: “We are watching them very closely.”

Meanwhile, the UK has deployed Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar in what the Ministry of Defence described as a defensive move. The deployment follows rising tensions between Tehran and Washington and concerns over regional stability. An MoD spokesperson said the deployment, made at the invitation of the Qatari government, reflects the UK’s commitment to working with international partners to maintain security in the Middle East.

The four Typhoon jets, capable of deploying a range of short- and long-range guided missiles, were sent to Qatar, which lies just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.

Iranian officials have denied claims that executions of protesters had been halted. Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, dismissed reports that hundreds of executions had been called off, saying: “This claim is completely false. No such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, also claimed there was “no plan for hanging at all,” despite growing international concern.

The United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to hold an emergency session to discuss what it described as “alarming violence” used against protesters in Iran, where demonstrations that began over economic hardship have evolved into wider calls for political change.

Human rights groups estimate that thousands have been killed since protests erupted, though exact figures remain disputed due to a near-total internet blackout in the country. Analysts say the prolonged shutdown has made it difficult to verify reports and may be aimed at concealing the scale of the crackdown.