Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Iran Says It's 'Unimpressed' by Trump's Twitter Threats
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
July 24, 2018

Share

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s explosive Twitter threat to Iran’s leader comes as his administration is ratcheting up a pressure campaign on the Islamic republic that many suspect is aimed at regime change.
No one is predicting imminent war. But Trump’s bellicose, all-caps challenge addressed to President Hassan Rouhani followed a speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he accused Iran’s leadership of massive corruption and widespread rights abuses and urged Iranians to rise up in protest.
Both the tweet and the speech landed less than two weeks before the administration will begin re-imposing sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. In the meantime, the U.S. is stepping up Farsi-language outreach that is intended to support Iranians demonstrating against the policies of their government.
Trump’s tweet doesn’t appear to have been prompted by any notable shift in rhetoric from Iran.
It could have been an impulsive reaction to reports from Tehran quoting Rouhani as giving the U.S. an oft-repeated reminder that conflict with Iran would be “the mother of all wars.” Yet animosity directed at the Iranian leadership is an established part of the administration’s broader foreign policy.

Iran Shrugs off Tweet

Iran publicly shrugged off Trump’s late Sunday message — “NEVER EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.”
Tweeted by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday:
 


Asked at the White House if he had concerns about provoking Iran, Trump said simply, “None at all.” Tehran is already aware of what is coming from the administration as consequences of Trump’s May withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord take shape.
As Pompeo noted in his speech to Iranian-Americans and others in California on Sunday, the centerpiece will be the re-imposition of U.S. economic sanctions; the first batch will go back into force Aug. 4, targeting the Iranian automotive sector and trade in gold and other metals. A more significant set of sanctions that will hit Iran’s oil industry and central bank by punishing countries and companies that do business with them will resume Nov. 4.
“Right now, the United States is undertaking a diplomatic and financial pressure campaign to cut off the funds that the regime uses to enrich itself and support death and destruction,” Pompeo said in his speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley.
Pompeo also slammed Iran’s political, judicial and military officials, accusing several by name of participating in rampant corruption, and called its religious leaders “hypocritical holy men” who amassed wealth while allowing their people to suffer. He said the government has “heartlessly repressed its own people’s human rights, dignity and fundamental freedoms,” and he hailed the “proud Iranian people (for) not staying silent about their government’s many abuses.”

The U.S. Will Not Stay Silent

“The United States under President Trump will not stay silent either,” he said.
He was right. True to form, Trump did not stay silent. But the White House blamed Rouhani for inciting the war of words with his comment that “America must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”
“WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!,” Trump wrote.
Reaction from Congress, particularly Democrats, was swift and critical.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, acknowledged that Iran’s terrorist activities in the Middle East pose a threat but suggested it wouldn’t be solved through a tweet from Trump.

“Our differences are with the Iranian regime’s actions and, in particular, with the actions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not the Iranian people. The Trump administration’s Iran policy seeks to address the totality of these threats and malign activities and to bring about a change in the Iranian regime’s behavior.” Trump’s National Security Council
“Sadly, after pulling us out of the nuclear deal with Europe and Iran, there doesn’t seem to be strategy for how to move forward to fight Iran’s activities,” she said.
And Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential candidate, called the Twitter blast from the White House “another warning sign that Trump is blundering toward war with Iran.”
“If anybody’s inciting anything, look no further than to Iran,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. She added that Trump has been “very clear about what he’s not going to allow to take place.”
Trump has a history of firing off heated tweets that seem to quickly escalate long-standing disputes with leaders of nations at odds with the U.S.
In the case of North Korea, the verbal war cooled quickly and gradually led to the high-profile summit and denuclearization talks. Still, there has been little tangible progress in a global push to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons program since the historic Trump-Kim Jong Un summit on June 12.
 

DON'T MISS

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

DON'T MISS

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

DON'T MISS

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

DON'T MISS

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

DON'T MISS

ICE Immediately Moves to Bolster Surveillance of Illegal Immigrants After Trump Win

DON'T MISS

You Can Win a Lexus in This Fresno Telethon Drawing. Get Tickets Now.

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Will Nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to Be Attorney General

DON'T MISS

Bluesky Has Added 1 Million Users Since the US Election as People Seek Alternatives to X

DON'T MISS

Trump Picks Rep. Matt Gaetz to Be His AG, Ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence

DON'T MISS

California Researchers Discover Mysterious, Gelatinous New Sea Slug

UP NEXT

Republican John Thune of South Dakota Is Elected the Next Senate Majority Leader

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Accused of Filing Fake Disability Claims in $300K Fraud Scheme

UP NEXT

US Says It Will Not Limit Israel Arms Transfers After Some Improvements in Flow of Aid to Gaza

UP NEXT

Travel in the West Bank Is a Tale of Two Journeys

UP NEXT

Chris Wallace Is Leaving CNN, Eager to Explore New Media Landscape

UP NEXT

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

UP NEXT

US Regulators Investigating Whether Engines on 1.4 Million Hondas Might Fail

UP NEXT

Israeli Strikes Kill Dozens in Lebanon and Isolated Northern Gaza While Netanyahu and Trump Speak

UP NEXT

When to Catch the Last Supermoon of the Year

UP NEXT

Mattel Says It ‘Deeply’ Regrets Misprint on ‘Wicked’ Dolls Packaging That Links to Porn Site

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

1 hour ago

ICE Immediately Moves to Bolster Surveillance of Illegal Immigrants After Trump Win

1 hour ago

You Can Win a Lexus in This Fresno Telethon Drawing. Get Tickets Now.

2 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to Be Attorney General

2 hours ago

Bluesky Has Added 1 Million Users Since the US Election as People Seek Alternatives to X

2 hours ago

Trump Picks Rep. Matt Gaetz to Be His AG, Ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence

2 hours ago

California Researchers Discover Mysterious, Gelatinous New Sea Slug

2 hours ago

Dallas Long, Olympic Gold Medalist and Among the Best Shot-Putters Ever, Dies at 84

2 hours ago

Trump Picks Sen. Marco Rubio as His Secretary of State

2 hours ago

Trump Meets With Jubilant House GOP and Jokes About a Third Term

3 hours ago

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

Garry Bredefeld and Luis Chavez upended two incumbents to join the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. Bredefeld leads Steve Brandau with 54...

2 mins ago

2 mins ago

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

34 mins ago

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

53 mins ago

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

1 hour ago

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

1 hour ago

ICE Immediately Moves to Bolster Surveillance of Illegal Immigrants After Trump Win

2 hours ago

You Can Win a Lexus in This Fresno Telethon Drawing. Get Tickets Now.

2 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to Be Attorney General

2 hours ago

Bluesky Has Added 1 Million Users Since the US Election as People Seek Alternatives to X

Search

Send this to a friend