US, Iran go to war on Twitter

Twitter war between Donald Trump and Iranian President Hasan Rowhani widens with another tirade from Iran’s foreign minister.

Hasan Rowhani, right, speaks to Iranian diplomats with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran yesterday. Picture: AFP

The ongoing Twitter war between the US and Iranian presidents has widened as Iran’s Foreign Minister joins his leader’s attack on Donald Trump, warning him to “be cautious”.

Mimicking Mr Trump’s own bellicose rhetoric, when he tweeted in capitals: “WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS,” Mohammad Javad Zarif shot back: “COLOR US UNIMPRESSED … We’ve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!”

Yesterday, Mr Trump hit back at aggressive comments by Iranian President Hasan Rowhani, warning him of consequences “the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered,” as the US intensifies its campaign against the Islamic ­republic.

“NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE,” the US President tweeted in a direct message to Mr Rowhani, who had earlier in the day warned the US President not to “play with the lion’s tail”, saying that conflict with Iran would be the “mother of all wars”.

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

The verbal sparring is reminiscent of the exchanges Mr Trump had last year with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, before the two leaders held a summit in ­Singapore last month. Mr Trump has made Iran a favourite target since his rapprochement with ­nuclear-armed North Korea.

His comments came after his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an address at 6pm on Sunday (11am yesterday, AEDT) to the Iranian diaspora in California, said Washington was not afraid to sanction top-ranking leaders of the “nightmare” Iranian regime.

Mr Trump in May pulled the US out of an agreement with Tehran, also signed by Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, which lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. The 2015 agreement was in response to fears that Iran was developing a nuclear bomb.

European allies maintain their support for the deal and have vowed to stay in it, though their businesses fear US penalties. Following Washington’s pullout, Mr Pompeo unveiled Washington’s tougher line under which the US would lift its new sanctions if Iran ended its ballistic missile program and interventions in regional conflicts from Yemen to Syria.

“You cannot provoke the Iranian people against their own security and interests,” Mr Rowhani said in a televised speech to Iranian ­diplomats in Tehran.

He repeated his warning that Iran could shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for international oil supplies.

“Peace with Iran would be the mother of all peace and war with Iran would be the mother of all wars,” he said.

The day before, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the US did not abide by agreements.

“As I have previously said, we cannot trust in the words of the US and even in their signature, so negotiations with the US are useless,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in Tehran.

Mr Pompeo yesterday noted the US in January had already sanctioned Sadeq Larijani, the head of Iran’s judiciary, for human rights violations. “We weren’t afraid to tackle the regime at its highest level,” he said.

He confirmed Washington wanted all nations to reduce their imports of Iranian oil “as close to zero as possible” by November 4, or face US sanctions.

“There’s more to come,” Mr Pompeo said. “Regime leaders — especially those at the top of the IRGC and the Quds Force like Qasem Soleimani — must be made to feel painful consequences of their bad decision-making,” he said in reference to Iran’s special forces and Revolutionary Guards.

Roundly applauded by his audience at the Ronald Reagan ­Library in Simi Valley, Mr Pompeo affirmed support for protesters in the Islamic republic. “The regime in Iran has been a nightmare for the Iranian people,” he said.

He announced an intensified propaganda campaign, with the launch of a multimedia channel with 24-hour coverage on TV, radio and social media. This would ensure “ordinary Iranians inside Iran and around the globe can know America stands with them”.

AFP