Any US infringement of Iran territorial waters will draw a tough response, Press TV reported referring to the senior spokesperson for Iran's Armed Forces, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi.

“The Americans have certainly experienced this [in the past] that they will receive a harder slap than before upon perpetrating the slightest action or infringement against the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters and our people’s interests,” said the senior spokesperson for Iran's Armed Forces, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, in an interview broadcast live on state television on Tuesday night. “We do not joke [with anyone] when it comes to the issue of our defense,” he added.

Earlier, the US President Donald Trump tweeted he had directed the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy” Iranian gunboats that “harass” American ships, following a recent confrontation between US warships and Iranian military boats in the Persian Gulf.

According to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), American vessels resorted to “unprofessional and perilous” behavior in the waters during the incident, “causing trouble” for one of the elite force’s logistics ships that was conducting a routine patrol.

A US Navy statement has, however, alleged that 11 IRGC boats had closed in on six US naval vessels in the Persian Gulf “in dangerous and harassing approaches.”

The IRGC has strongly dismissed the statement, calling the account a “Hollywood tale.”