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Iran FM discounts prospect of war with US
Iran's foreign minister Saturday discounted the prospect of a new war in the region because Tehran opposed it and no party was under the “illusion” the Islamic republic could be confronted.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been on the rise as the United States has deployed a carrier group and B-52 bombers over what it termed Iranian “threats”.
“We are certain... there will not be a war since neither we want a war nor does anyone have the illusion they can confront Iran in the region,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told state-run news agency IRNA at the end of a visit to China.
Read: US warns airliners flying in Persian Gulf amid Iran tensions
US President Donald “Trump does not want war but the people around him are pushing him towards war under the pretext of making America stronger against Iran,” Zarif added.
Iran-US relations hit a new low last year as US Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed unilateral sanctions that had been lifted in exchange for Tehran scaling back its nuclear programme.
The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said Saturday that the country is currently locked in a “full-scale war of intelligence” with the US.
“This is a combination of psychological warfare, cyber operations, military mobility, public diplomacy and instilling fear,” semi-official news agency ISNA quoted Hossein Salami as saying.
“America's majesty is on decline and it is about to reach its end, and at the same time, we must watch out for probable dangers in such circumstances,” he said.
Comments (15) Closed
'America's majesty is on decline and it is about to reach its end'. Even though it is an Iranian saying this but with Trump in the White house those words ring true more than ever before.
Both sides should seek dialogue to resolve the differences instead of rhetorics & speculations...
Daring and steadfast up-keeping the prestige of Muslim Nation. Great statement.
“Trump does not want war but the people around him are pushing him towards war under the pretext of making America stronger against Iran.” - Iran dreamed that up. They have no sources of intelligence that do not lie to the regime.
Not very tough to Guess the deal. It's all about afganisthan. Trump gradually increased the pressure to make some kind of deal to manage a alternative route to Central Asia and keep Iran away from Chinese (and to stop increasing Russian presence in Iran) influence.
Iran must not ignore US intention of war despite President Trump saying he does not want war. Can Trump be trusted? No. Trump tore up Iran's nuclear deal. He re-imposed sanctions against Iran. He has threatened sanctions on any country buying Iran's oil. He declared Iran's Revolutionary Guard as Terrorist organisation. He has sent US Navy aircraft carrier and battle group to Persian Gulf. He is pulling out all non essential American embassy staff from Iraq. That the US has warned civil airliners in the area to stay clear of Gulf airspace. If Trump did not want war, he would not be threatening Iran with all his war like actions.
USA does not want or need to go to war with Iran?...they will be quite content to sit quietly with their allies in the Gulf and watch Iran implode...Bad management by the Ayatollah has wasted a lot of Iranian money on financing wars in Yemen and Gaza...the USA is just assuring everyone that Iran will have less money to spend on paying for wars...
The art of war is in defeating the enemy without a war and Iran already did it by defeating USA on the table. USA is only trying to save its face value by moving around things that they can not use in current scenarios.
Quite conceited statements, discounting will of USA is dangerous.
Let's hope and pray that he is 100 percent right.
@Imran, agree
@EDDIE, what a joke, the beneviolent uncle Sam. Sell this lie to white American voters without a college degree.
Trump has always been a bully, someone who doesn't fight, just intimidates others into submission. That's what made him a billionaire in business. Scaring away competition.
He is right
War means death, destruction, devastation. No mentally healthy person can preach the war. In USA it is interesting only a few hawks in the administration can lead a nation towards war. McNamara cried for 58000 American soldiers died in Vietnam and he was one of the main architects of Vietnam war.