Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Supreme Leader Says Iranians Won't Budge Over US Sanctions
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
June 26, 2019

Share

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader said Wednesday that Iranians will not budge or change their stand following new U.S. sanctions targeting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates, the latest in a torrent of sharp verbal responses from Tehran in the wake of the measures.

“The most hated figures of such an administration accuse and insult the Iranian nation. The Iranian nation will not budge and will not withdraw because of the insults.” — Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
President Donald Trump enacted the new sanctions against Khamenei and others on Monday and U.S. officials also said they plan sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The sanctions followed Iran’s downing last week of a U.S. surveillance drone, worth over $100 million, over the Strait of Hormuz, sharply escalating the crisis.
The top Iranian cleric’s website quoted Khamenei as calling the Trump administration “the most sinister” U.S. government, adding that Washington’s calls for negotiation with Iran are deceitful and amount to “obvious cruelty.”
“The most hated figures of such an administration accuse and insult the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. “The Iranian nation will not budge and will not withdraw because of the insults.”
The crisis gripping the Middle East stems from Trump’s withdrawal of the United States a year ago from the nuclear deal between Iran and other world powers and then imposing crippling new sanctions on Tehran.
Recently, Iran quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium to be on pace to break one of the deal’s terms by Thursday, while also threatening to raise enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels on July 7 if European countries still abiding by the accord don’t offer a new deal.

Series of Recent Attacks in the Region

Iran warned on Tuesday that the new U.S. sanctions targeting Khamenei and other officials meant “closing the doors of diplomacy” between Tehran and Washington. President Hassan Rouhani derided the White House as being “afflicted by mental retardation.”
Trump called that a “very ignorant and insulting statement,” tweeting that an Iranian attack on any U.S. interest will be met with “great and overwhelming force … overwhelming will mean obliteration.” His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said the Iranian statement was “immature.”
After the downing of the U.S. drone last week, Trump pulled back from the brink of retaliatory military strikes but continued his pressure campaign against Iran.
The drone shootdown was only the latest in a series of attacks in the region in recent months. The U.S. has blamed Iran for the suspected attacks on two oil tankers, alleging that used limpet mines to target the tankers, pointing to black-and-white footage it captured that American officials describe as Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops removing an unexploded mine from a Japanese-operated tanker.
Similarly, four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates were apparently targeted in acts of sabotage, which U.S. officials have also blamed on Iran. Tehran denied the charges. And in mid-May, Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels claimed they were behind a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline.
Late Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi told reporters that American officials contacted the Iraqis recently, alleging the drones used in that Saudi pipeline attack, which took place on May 14, may have taken off from Iraq.

Photo of President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order to increase sanctions on Iran on Monday. Trump is flanked by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, left, and Vice President Mike Pence. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Iraq Trying to Walk a Fine Line

Iraqi military and intelligence have not confirmed such claims, Abdul-Mahdi said, without elaborating. There was also no immediate comment from Washington.

“We are trying to distance Iraq from any danger, this is a main concern for us. We should distance Iraq from the dangers of a conflict.” — Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi 
According to an Iraqi intelligence official, the Americans allege the drones took off from the area of Jurf al-Sakhar in Iraq’s southern Babel province that’s home to Iran-backed militias.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said there have been nine attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq over the past weeks — including rocket and mortar attacks on Iraqi bases where American trainers are based, and another that struck near the American Embassy in the Iraqi capital.
Last month, the U.S. ordered the evacuation of nonessential diplomatic staff from Iraq amid unspecified threats from Iran.
Iraq is trying to walk a fine line — it has good relations with both the U.S. and Iran, hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is also home to powerful Iranian-backed militias.
“We are trying to distance Iraq from any danger, this is a main concern for us,” Abdul-Mahdi said. “We should distance Iraq from the dangers of a conflict.”

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

DON'T MISS

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

DON'T MISS

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

DON'T MISS

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

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

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

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

2 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

2 hours ago

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

3 hours ago

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

3 hours ago

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

4 hours ago

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

4 hours ago

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

4 hours ago

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

5 hours ago

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

5 hours ago

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

5 hours ago

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

From student to scholar to professor and department chair, Dr. Kara Zografos’ history with Fresno State dates back nearly 20 years. Now she ...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit, Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP File)
2 hours ago

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

2 hours ago

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

2 hours ago

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

Wired Wednesday Cover, 11/13/24, KMPH Screengrab
2 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

3 hours ago

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

3 hours ago

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

4 hours ago

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

Search

Send this to a friend