Taiwo Popoola
The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Qalibaf, on Friday said that Tehran would strike US bases in the region if Washington follows through on its warning of military consequences for Iran in the absence of a new nuclear deal.
Qalibaf said this in a live speech at the annual Al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, that marks the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
Recall that US President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning that there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or make a deal.
“If the Americans attack the sanctity of Iran, the entire region will blow up like a spark in an ammunition dump. Their bases and those of their allies will not be safe,” Qalibaf said.
Khamenei has called Trump’s message deceptive, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday that talks were impossible unless Washington changed its maximum pressure policy.
According to Araqchi, Iran had thoroughly examined Trump’s letter and had sent an appropriate response through Oman.
On Friday, Araqchi said without elaborating that while Trump’s letter contained threats, it also left the door open to diplomacy.
In his first 2017-21 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran subsequently breached the deal by surpassing limits in its uranium enrichment, especially after Trump reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability.
Tehran said its programme is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
