Updated
Photo: Donald Trump has responded to Hassan Rouhani in a pointed Twitter outburst. (AP/Reuters)Donald Trump has threatened Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” after he spoke out on America’s anti-Iran policy.
In an explosive, all-caps tweet Mr Trump told Mr Rouhani to “never, ever threaten the United States again” and told him to “be cautious!”.
The comments come after Mr Rouhani cautioned Mr Trump about pursuing hostile policies against Tehran, saying “America should know … war with Iran is the mother of all wars”.
“Mr Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret,” Mr Roiuhani said on Sunday, according to local news outlet IRNA.
“You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests.”
Iran’s state-owned news agency promptly dismissed Mr Trump’s tweet, describing it as a “passive reaction” to Mr Rouhani’s remarks.
The IRNA news agency, a government mouthpiece, also said that Mr Trump’s Twitter missive was only mimicking and copying Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who had in the past warned the West to “never threaten an Iranian”.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched his own rhetorical assault on Iran’s leaders, comparing them to a “mafia” and promising unspecified backing for Iranians unhappy with their Government.
Mr Pompeo, in a California speech to a largely Iranian-American audience, dismissed Mr Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who negotiated a nuclear deal with the United States and five other countries, as “merely polished front men for the ayatollahs’ international con artistry”.
Iran “is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government,” Mr Pompeo said, citing what he called Iranian leaders’ vast wealth and corruption.
In the speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Mr Pompeo also said the Iranian Government had “heartlessly repressed its own people’s human rights, dignity and fundamental freedoms”.
Mr Pompeo said despite poor treatment by their leaders, “the proud Iranian people are not staying silent about their Government’s many abuses“.
“And the United States under President Trump will not stay silent either,” he said.
“In light of these protests and 40 years of regime tyranny, I have a message for the people of Iran: The United States hears you. The United States supports you. The United States is with you.”
Mr Pompeo’s speech was the latest step in a communications offensive launched by the Trump administration that is meant to foster unrest in Iran and help pressure its Government to end its nuclear program and support of militant groups, US officials familiar with the matter said.
The offensive is meant to work in concert with severe economic sanctions that Washington plans to reimpose in the coming months, including on Tehran’s oil exports, its principal revenue generator.
The United States will work with countries that import Iranian oil “to get imports as close to zero as possible” by November 4, Mr Pompeo said.
ABC/wires
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, united-states, iran-islamic-republic-of
First posted
