Iranian foreign minister warns U.S. ‘won’t be able to finish’ any war it starts

Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif warned in an interview that the U.S. could not “finish” a war against Iran, while blaming U.S. intelligence agencies for a “cyber war” he said was being waged against Iran.

In an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Javad Zarif urged the Trump administration against pursuing a military solution to conflicts with Iranian-backed forces in the Middle East.

{mosads}”There is a cyber war going on. The United States started that cyber war, with attacking our nuclear facilities in a very dangerous, irresponsible way that could’ve killed millions of people,” Zarif said.

“There is a cyber war and Iran is engaged in that cyber war,” he continued. “Any war that the United States starts it won’t be able to finish.”

Zarif’s comments came after weeks of provocative actions in the Middle East that U.S. intelligence agencies have blamed on Iranian-backed Houthi forces, including attacks on Saudi oil facilities earlier this month and the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone.

Iranian forces also seized a British oil tanker in response to the seizure of an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, which the U.S. and U.K. argued was bound for sanctioned Syrian forces under the control of Bashar al-Assad.

The Trump administration took further steps to limit the movement of senior Iranian officials in the U.S. under President Trump’s direction, barring them and their families from entry.