"I built (up) the military in my first term, and now we have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won't have to use it," Trump told reporters at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania.

Asked if he would have talks with Iran, Trump added: "I have had and I am planning on it. Yes, we have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn't have to use them."

As Washington dialled up their rhetoric and Iran issued stark threats this week, UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for nuclear negotiations to "avoid a crisis that could have devastating consequences in the region".

An Iranian military spokesman warned Tehran's response to any US action would not be limited -- as it was in June last year when American planes and missiles briefly joined Israel's short air war against Iran -- but would be a decisive response "delivered instantly".

Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia told state television US aircraft carriers have "serious vulnerabilities" and that numerous American bases in the Gulf region are "within the range of our medium-range missiles".

"If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way Trump imagines -- carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over," he said.

An official in the Gulf, where states host US military sites, told AFP that fears of a US strike on Iran are "very clear".

"It would bring the region into chaos, it would hurt the economy not just in the region but in the US and cause oil and gas prices to skyrocket," the official added.

Qatar's leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian held a call to discuss "efforts being made to de-escalate tensions and establish stability," the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

The European Union, meanwhile, piled on the pressure by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a "terrorist organisation" over a deadly crackdown on recent mass protests.

"'Terrorist' is indeed how you call a regime that crushes its own people's protests in blood," said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming the "overdue" decision.

Though largely symbolic, the EU decision has already drawn a warning from Tehran.

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