Iran warns Trump: Don’t mess with oil
Never threaten U.S. again, he tweets
Iran’s president warned his U.S. counterpart, President Donald Trump, not to threaten the Persian Gulf nation’s oil exports and called for improved relations with its neighbors, including arch-rival Saudi Arabia.
“Peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.
Trump fired back on Twitter late Sunday, addressing Rouhani directly in a message written in all capital letters.
“Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before,” Trump wrote. “We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. Be cautious!”
Trump is reimposing sanctions on Iran in an effort to squelch the country’s oil sales. Iran ships most of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Gulf that is a conduit for tankers carrying about 30 percent of all seaborne-traded crude oil and other liquids. Other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq also export much of their crude through the Strait.
Iran will seek improved relations with its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Rouhani said in a speech in Tehran on Sunday, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News agency reported. But he also said Saudi Arabia still needs to “change its actions, let go of obstinacy and be willing to have relations.”
Iran and the European Union are working to salvage the 2015 accord that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions on its nuclear work. Trump withdrew from the international agreement and is restoring U.S. sanctions.
Rouhani suggested that Iran has alternatives to shipping crude through Hormuz.
“No one who really understands politics would say they will block Iran’s oil exports, and we have many straits, the Strait of Hormuz is just one of those,” Rouhani said. He didn’t elaborate on the other “straits” Iran might have available for its exports.
“Mr. Trump! We are the honest men who have throughout history guaranteed the safety of this region’s waterways,” Rouhani said. “Do not play with the lion’s tail. It will bring regret.”
Iran would halt oil shipments through the strait if the U.S. stopped it from exporting, Esmail Kowsari, deputy commander of the Sarollah Revolutionary Guards base in Tehran, said earlier this month, according to the Young Journalists Club, which is affiliated with Iran’s national broadcaster.