New Delhi, Mar 7: Iran tonight slammed Donald Trump for “misinterpreting” its “openness to de-escalate within the Middle East” and said if the US President wants escalation, he would get it and the blame for it would “lie squarely” on his administration.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a statement hours after Trump called his country a “loser of the Middle East” and threatened intensified attacks to bury the Iranians in “graves”.
Trump made the comments in a social media post after Iranian President Pezeshkian expressed apology to the “brother” countries of Gulf region for the attacks carried out of those and said his country would no more target them unless attacks originated from there
Araghchi said: “President Pezeshkian’s openness to de-escalation within our region, provided that our neighbours’ airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian people, was almost immediately killed by President Trump’s misinterpretation of our capabilities, determination and intent.
“If Mr Trump seeks escalation, it is precisely what our Powerful armed Forces have long been prepared for, and what he will get.
“Responsibility for any intensification of Iran’s exercise of self-defence will lie squarely with the US Administration.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister said he has “warned Mr Trump’s envoys that war will not improve their bargaining position”.
Earlier in the day, Pezeshkian sought to reach out to the neighbouring countries of the Gulf, saying the Interim Leadership Council in Tehran had agreed that there will not be any more attacks or missiles fired at them unless “an attack on Iran originates from those countries”.
Hours later, Trump, in a social media post, said: “Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.”
Claiming that Iran was “looking to take over and rule the Middle East”, the US President said, “Iran is no longer the ‘Bully of the middle east’, they are, instead, ‘The loser of the middle east’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!”.
Taking strong exception to Trump’s comments, Araghchi said the American President’s “week-long misadventure has already cost the US military $100 billion, in addition to the lives of young soldiers. When markets reopen, that cost will balloon and directly be transferred to ordinary Americans at pumping stations”.
He added: “This is a war of choice pursued by a small cabal of ‘Israel Firsters’ and ‘Israel First’ always means ‘America Last’.”
Subsequently, Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, asserting that “No factor can undermine Iran’s inherent right to defend itself against the military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime.”
It reiterated that “Iran’s defensive operations are directed against the targets and facilities that are the origin and source of the aggressive actions against the Iranian nation, or which serve such purposes.
“Regional countries have undoubtedly realized by now that US bases on their soil have not contributed to regional security, but are used only to support Zionist child-killers and American aggressors.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to maintaining and continuing friendly relations with regional countries based on mutual respect, the principle of good neighborliness, and respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
It emphasized that Iran’s defensive operations against US military bases and installations in the region “should by no means be construed as enmity or hostility towards the countries of the region.” (NVI)
