IRAN’s foreign minister has accused President Trump of wanting “genocide” and warned the US against pursuing war, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate. Writing on twitter, Javad Zarif said that “’Short war’ with Iran is an illusion” and that “Whoever beings war will not be the one ending it”. Misconceptions endanger peace […]
IRAN’s foreign minister has accused President Trump of wanting “genocide” and warned the US against pursuing war, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.
Writing on twitter, Javad Zarif said that “’Short war’ with Iran is an illusion” and that “Whoever beings war will not be the one ending it”.
He was responding to comments made on Tuesday by President Trump, who said that an attack on “anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force” and that, in some cases, “overwhelming will mean obliteration”.
Zarif also wrote: “’Obliteration’=genocide=war crime”.
Escalations between the US and Iran have continued to escalate in recent months.
In May, the US sent additional warships and missile systems to the Gulf, while last week Iranian forces shot down an unmanned US military drone that it claimed had intruded into Iranian airspace.
A retaliatory strike by the US that would have killed an estimated 150 people was only called off at the last minute.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the US withdrew from an international agreement that saw an Iran agree to the regulation of its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.
After withdrawing from the deal, the US reimposed sanctions on Iran as well as other countries who continue to trade with it.
The sanctions are intended to target critical areas of Iran’s economy, including its energy, shipping and shipbuilding, and financial sectors.
Iran has responded by accelerating its enrichment of uranium, a move confirmed by the UN’s nuclear watchdog this month, and demanding that other Western powers work to ease the impact of the sanctions.
On Sunday, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that the US was prepared to engage in talks with Iran “without pre-conditions”, but Iran dismissed the offer as “wordplay”.
Zarif’s tweet also said “Sanctions aren’t alternative to war; they ARE war” and that “Negotiations and threats are mutually exclusive”.
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