Iran slams Trump over ‘disrespect'
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused US President Donald Trump of showing disrespect to the country's leadership, warning that his barbs undermine any potential for renewed negotiations.
In a statement posted on Saturday, Araghchi said that if Trump is sincere about pursuing a nuclear deal with Iran, he must 'put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers.'
Araghchi further warned that Iran would not tolerate threats and insults, asserting: 'If illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its real capabilities, which will certainly end any delusion about the power of Iran.' The foreign minister added that as a result of Iran's recent standoff with Israel, the latter 'had NO CHOICE but to RUN to 'Daddy' to avoid being flattened by our missiles.'
His comments came in response to Trump's claim that he had 'saved [Khamenei] from a very ugly and ignominious death.' He also accused the Iranian leader of 'blatantly and foolishly' lying about prevailing in the conflict with Israel. On top of that, the US leader warned Iran that he would 'absolutely' bomb the country again if he decides that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.
The war of words followed a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran that began on June 13 when Israel launched a series of strikes targeting Iran's nuclear sites and top military leadership, triggering a wave of retaliatory attacks by Tehran.
The US joined the hostilities on June 22, deploying heavy bombers against key Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump has since said that the nuclear sites have been 'completely obliterated,' although several media reports have disputed this assessment. While a ceasefire has since been reached, Iran has dismissed the notion of immediately returning to negotiations.
The key stumbling block remains the US demand that Iran completely refrain from uranium enrichment, which Tehran has dismissed as a deal-breaker. Iran maintains it does not seek nuclear weapons and insists the country's nuclear program is solely for peaceful energy purposes.
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