Published 19:46 IST, December 24th 2020
Donald Trump accuses Iran of US embassy attack, threatens strong retaliation
US President Donald Trump on December 24 blamed Iran for a series of rocket attacks that were launched on the US Embassy in Iraq and warned against aggression.
US President Donald Trump on December 24 blamed Iran for a series of rocket attacks that were launched on the US Embassy in Iraq and warned against any further aggression. The US President took to Twitter to threaten Tehran and asked the latter to “think it over” before hurting US citizens abroad before Zarif called Trump out for diverting attention from his failures. Trump had even shared the images of the three rockets that “failed to launch".
Trump said, "Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over."
This was followed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accusing the outgoing US President Donald Trump of putting Americans “at risk abroad” in order to divert attention from his own “catastrophic failures” in the country with his claims over attack on the US embassy in Iraq. While the Trump administration is spending the closing days at White House before President-elect Joe Biden takes over the charge, he recently threatened Tehran of retaliation over the attack on US embassy in Baghdad.
Zarif shared Trump’s tweets from 2011, 2012 and 2013 in which Trump can be seen warning the administration of 44th US President Barack Obama to not start a war with Iran. In those tweets, Trump has even called out Obama for his “ inability to negotiate properly" and to "get elected.” This came after the Republican leader accused Iran of being responsible for the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad that had occurred last week and warned the Islamic nation over hurting even one American.
Rouhani calls Trump 'madman'
Moreover, the Iranian Foreign Minister’s attack on Trump came after Iran President Hassan Rouhani described the outgoing US President as a “madman” and even compared him with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iranian president's provocative remarks come ahead of Trump's White House exit after one term in office, which saw a colossal rise in regional tension in the face of the US's aggressive policies in the Middle East.
"One madman in our region was Saddam, who imposed a war on our nation, and the other madman was Trump, who imposed another war on our people," Rouhani said in comments that were broadcast on state television."One imposed a military war on us, while the other imposed an economic war."
Updated 19:44 IST, December 24th 2020