Tehran, May 22: Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has on Tuesday warned the United States of “painful consequences for everybody” if Washington continues to escalate tensions with the Islamic Republic.
According to Dawn news reports, Zarif has also accused Washington of “playing a very, very dangerous game”, during an exclusive interview with CNN which aired on Tuesday.
Zarif stated, “There will be painful consequences for everybody (if) there is an escalation against Iran, that’s for sure.”
Tensions between Iran and the US have risen since Washington deployed its naval carrier team, along with B-52 bombers to the Gulf region over unspecified alleged Iranian threats.
“Having all these military assets in a small waterway is in itself prone to accident particularly when you have people who are interested in accidents. So extreme prudence is required and we believe the US is playing a very, very dangerous game,” Zarif said.
US President Donald Trump took it to Twitter on Sunday and suggested Tehran would get destroyed if it attempted to attack US interests.
During a televised speech, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday stated whenever Trump administration threaten Tehran, domestic and international pressure means “they regret it in less than two hours”.
Also read: Donald Trump warns war with US will ‘officially end’ Iran regime
Trump has warned Iran “never” to threaten the US again, saying if Tehran wants to fight, that will be the “official end” of the Iranian regime.
Trump issued his threat a few hours after the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said on Sunday that Iran does not fear war but the US does.
Last week, the US decided to deploy to the Persian Gulf the amphibious assault ship USS Arlington, Patriot missiles, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and assorted warplanes, including bombers, after claiming that it had detected unspecified “indications” of Iranian plans to attack US forces in the Middle East.