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US Does Not
Dare Carry Out Attack On Iran
By Al Jazeera
February 09/10,
2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- "Al
Jazeera" -
Iran has
stepped up its war of words with the US, with an
influential adviser to the supreme leader threatening
the Trump administration with "dark days to come" in
case of a military attack on his country.
In an exclusive
interview to Al Jazeera, Ali Akbar Velayati,
foreign-affairs adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
said "Washington does not dare to carry out its military
threats against Iran".
"The Americans
know very well that Iran and its allies in the region
would retaliate very hard, that will make America face
dark days to come," he said.
In the past
week, the US has imposed new sanctions on Iran over a
missile test.
Velayati said
Iran's policies in the Middle East would not change,
"therefore [President Donald] Trump and the American
administration must get their stuff together and leave
this region completely because the people of this region
feel alienated by their policies".
Velayati said
the US effort to make Iran stop its missile programme
with military threats amounted to "worthless fantasies".
"Without the
slightest doubt, I can guarantee you that we will
continue to develop our military programmes, and
especially our defence missile programme, no matter what
and at any cost," he said.
"We do not have
any worry about the US threats because America for the
last 38 years after the Islamic revolution has not been
able to do anything."
Relations
between the US and Iran have deteriorated since Trump
took office on January 20, promising a more aggressive
line on what he views as Iranian belligerence towards US
interests and allies.
'Playing with fire'
Last week
Michael Flynn, US national security adviser, accused
Iran of violating a UN Security Council resolution which
calls on Iran not to test missiles capable of delivering
a nuclear weapon.
Iran has
confirmed it tested a ballistic missile, but denied it
was a breach of a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers or
UN resolutions.
Trump said Iran was "playing with fire" after
the country dismissed his warnings over the missile test
as unfounded and provocative.
READ MORE: US
slaps new sanctions on Iran over missile test
In a post on
Twitter, Trump said his administration would not be as
"kind" to Iran as the government of his predecessor,
Barack Obama.
"Iran is
playing with fire - they don't appreciate how 'kind'
President Obama was to them. Not me!" Trump said.
Asked by a
reporter if military action was a possibility, Trump
said: "Nothing is off the table".
The US later
imposed sanctions on 13 Iranians and 12 companies.
The views
expressed in this article are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Information Clearing House. |
