Trump Responds to 'Insulting' Slam From Iran

He threatens 'obliteration' if an American target is hit
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 25, 2019 10:50 AM CDT
Trump Responds to 'Insulting' Slam From Iran
President Trump speaks to troops at a Memorial Day event aboard the USS Wasp on May 28, 2019, in Yokosuka, Japan.   (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Iran on Tuesday mocked President Trump's new sanctions and called the White House "mentally retarded" or "mentally crippled," depending on the translation. In a series of tweets, President Trump has responded to the "very ignorant and insulting statement" with a threat. "Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force," he wrote. "In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration." The regime in Tehran "doesn't understand the words 'nice' or 'compassion,'" but they do understand "Strength and Power," Trump wrote, before boasting of the US military's prowess. "The wonderful Iranian people are suffering, and for no reason at all," he added. "Their leadership spends all of its money on Terror, and little on anything else."

His comments followed a speech from Iran President Hassan Rouhani, who criticized the US decision to go after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with sanctions. The speech was a marked departure from Rouhani's usual "measured tone," per Reuters. Also, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Trump's actions had made further diplomacy impossible. On Tuesday, however, national security adviser John Bolton said Trump had "held the door open to real negotiations," reports the Washington Post. But any deal, he said, must “eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons program, its pursuit of ballistic missile delivery systems, its support for international terrorism, and other malign behavior worldwide.” (More Iran stories.)

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