NEW YORK, August 14. /TASS/. The United States is not seeking to destroy Iran, but if the Islamic Republic attacks, Washington will respond "100 times harder," US President Donald Trump said.

When asked by a Fox News correspondent whether Iran may start to behave more aggressively in the run-up to the midterm Congress elections in November, Trump replied: "We are capable of really destroying the whole place."

"We don’t want to do that," he continued. "If they hit, we will hit back a hundred times harder."