Trump warns Iran not to threaten US
Tension in the Persian Gulf escalated again on Sunday as US President Donald Trump made a fresh threat against Iran in a tweet, shortly after a rocket landed near the US embassy in Baghdad overnight.
“If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran,” Trump said on Twitter, an escalation of his tough stance on Iran.
On Sunday, the US military command confirmed an explosion near the US embassy compound in Baghdad and said there were no casualties.
A State Department spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that “a low-grade rocket did land within the International Zone near the US embassy” and attacks on US personnel and facilities “will not be tolerated and will be responded to in a decisive manner”.
He also said that the US will hold “Iran responsible if any such attacks are conducted by its proxy militia forces or elements of such forces”.
On the other hand, Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said on Sunday that his country “is not looking for any type of war”, but “is fully prepared to defend itself” at the same time.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said there would be no war in the region, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Adel al-Jubeir, minister of state for foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia, said “the kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not want war in the region and does not strive for that.”
Nonetheless, he said that if the other side chooses war, the kingdom “will fight this with all force and determination and it will defend itself, its citizens and its interests”.
Over recent weeks, Washington has ratcheted up pressure against Teheran with a series of sanctions, designations and military threats, following Washington’s yearlong campaign against Iran after the US exit from the Iran nuclear deal last year, according to Xinhua News Agency.
On Wednesday, the US State Department ordered nonemergency US employees in both the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil to leave Iraq.
Earlier, the US military said the US forces were on high alert in Iraq and Syria over fears of “imminent threats” from Iran-backed forces in the region.
The US measures came amid the tense situation in the region after Trump decided not to reissue the sanctions waivers for major importers to continue buying Iran’s oil when the waivers expire this month.