Tehran, May 28: Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has on Tuesday hit out at the United States (US) president after Donald Trump stated America was not seeking any “regime change” in Tehran but was interested in preventing Iran from receiving nuclear weapons.
Zarif took it to Twitter and insisted the nation was not looking for nuclear weapons and further accused Washington, which recently ratcheted up its military presence in the Middle East amidst rising US-Iran tensions, of causing tensions in the region and “hurting” the Iranian people.
Zarif tweeted Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has “long ago said we’re not seeking nuclear weapons – by issuing a fatwa (edict) banning them”, according to Al-Jazeera news reports.
Ayatollah @khamenei_ir long ago said we're not seeking nuclear weapons—by issuing a fatwa (edict) banning them.#B_Team's #EconomicTerrorism is hurting the Iranian people & causing tension in the region. Actions—not words—will show whether or not that's @realDonaldTrump's intent
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) May 27, 2019
The foreign minister’s comment came after the US president on Monday during an official visit to Japan said an agreement with Iran is possible over its nuclear programme, imposing economic sanctions on Tehran to curb its activities, what the US has claimed are behind several attacks in the Middle East.
During a media conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump told reporters: “We aren’t looking for regime change – I just want to make that clear. We are looking for no nuclear weapons.”
“I know for a fact that the prime minister is very close with the leadership of Iran, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
At his joint news conference with Trump, Abe said Japan would do what it could on the Iran issue.
Trump stated, “I really believe that Iran would like to make a deal, and I think that’s very smart of them, and I think that’s a possibility to happen,” adding, “It has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership.”
In response to Trump’s statement, Zarif tweeted: “Actions – not words – will show whether or not that’s @realDonaldTrump’s intent.”
Last October, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stated the US was looking for a “regime change” in Iran.