Trump warns Iran’s Rouhani: Threaten us ‘and you will suffer’
President Trump on Sunday night warned that if Iran continued with its threats to the U.S., the country would suffer unspecified “consequences.”
In a tweet, written in all caps and directed explicitly at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Trump wrote: “Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. Be cautious!”
To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
Trump’s message comes after Rouhani issued his own warning to the U.S. president earlier on Sunday.
“America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Rouhani told a group of diplomats.
The tweet also came shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered remarks on Iran at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday evening.
During his address, Pompeo compared Iran’s leaders to the mafia, while also declaring U.S. support for the people of Iran, especially protesters who have taken to the streets recently in opposition to the current government.
White House national security adviser John Bolton — who has long held an adversarial stance toward Iran — later weighed in on the tweet.
“I spoke to the President over the last several days, and President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before,” Bolton said in a statement Monday morning.
The U.S. and Iran have been in conflict for decades. The tense relationship was further strained earlier this year when Trump announced the U.S. would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
Former President Obama helped spearhead the international agreement, which offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program. Trump had long derided the deal and fulfilled one of his key campaign promises by announcing his administration was pulling the U.S. out of it.
Nonetheless, the decision drew international condemnation and has led to renewed concerns of a potential conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which has wide influence across the Middle East, including in Syria, where Washington also maintains a military presence supporting rebels in that country’s years-long civil war.
The Trump administration included Iran in its controversial travel ban, which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court.
Updated at 9:58 a.m.
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