President Donald Trump has lashed out at the Iranian government, warning them of dire consequences if they continue to threaten the United States. The threat came in response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warning the U.S. that conflict with the country would be the “mother of all wars,” but tempered the comments by expressing an openness to peace.
The U.S. “must understand that war with Iran is the mother of all wars and peace with Iran is the mother of all peace,” Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA reported Rouhani as saying. He was reportedly addressing diplomats in Tehran on Sunday when he made the comments.
Rouhani also warned President Trump to “not play with the lion’s tail” because he would “regret it eternally.”
That sparked an angry response from the President.
“To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!” the President tweeted.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif responded to the President’s tweet with a message meant to convey Iranians’ unaffectedness.
“COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them —albeit more civilized ones—for 40 yrs. We’ve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!” Zarif wrote.
Rouhani’s comments are in response to the U.S.’ exit from the Iran nuclear deal in May. President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal because the deal had not been renegotiated up to his standards.
“The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons. Therefore, I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” he said at the time.
But Iran has vowed not to renegotiate the terms of the deal.
“Let me make it absolutely clear once and for all: we will neither outsource our security nor will we renegotiate or add on to a deal we have already implemented in good faith,” Javad Zarif said at the time.
“To put it in real estate terms: when you buy a house and move your family in, or demolish it to build a skyscraper, you cannot come back two years later and try to renegotiate the price,” he added.
The U.S., along with France, Germany, China, Russia, and Britain, struck a deal with Iran in 2015 that halted Iran’s nuclear program. President Trump had campaigned on the promise of tearing the deal up and negotiating a new one should be become president. Trump believes the terms of the deal should be expanded to include Iran’s non-nuclear, ballistic missile program, its support for terrorism as well as human-rights abuses.
It’s unclear how effective the U.S.’ exit from the deal will be if all other nations remain a party to it. So far, no other country has joined the U.S. in exiting the deal.
The sanctions that the agreement staved off are set to go back in effect on Iran on November 4. More than 50 international firms have said they will be leaving the Iranian market, that according to Brian Hook, a State Department policy and planning director.
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