Tehran | Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday the “genocidal taunts” of US President Donald Trump will not “end Iran”, amid a spike in tensions between the two countries.
“Iranians have stood tall for millennia while aggressors all gone. Economic terrorism and genocidal taunts won’t ‘end Iran’,” Zarif wrote on Twitter. “Never threaten an Iranian. Try respect — it works!” he added.
The comments by Iran’s top diplomat follow an ominous warning by Trump, who on Sunday suggested the Islamic republic would be destroyed if it attacked US interests. “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again,” Trump tweeted.
Relations between Washington and Tehran plummeted a year ago when Trump pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and imposed tough sanctions.
Tensions have risen further this month with Washington announcing further economic measures against Tehran, before deploying a carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf over unspecified Iranian “threats”.The claim has been met with widespread scepticism outside the United States.
The Trump administration last week ordered non-essential diplomatic staff out of Iraq, citing threats from Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups.
On Sunday a rocket was fired into the Green Zone of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, which houses government offices and embassies including the US mission. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
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