Iran’s President Reminds US of Futility of Warmongering
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani advised the US government to realize the futility of hawkish policies and get rid of warmongers, a day after his American counterpart fired John Bolton, the hawkish US national security adviser.
“The US should understand that warmongering and warmongers are useless, discharge the warmongers, and abandon its policy of warmongering and maximum pressure (on Iran),” Rouhani said in a weekly cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday.
While the enemy is imposing “maximum pressures” on Iran, the Islamic Republic sticks to the policy of resistance, he underlined.
The president reiterated that Iran employs nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, saying Iran’s logic regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is mutual commitment.
“If they (the other parties to the JCPOA) honor their commitments, we will honor ours as well, and if they carry it out partially, we will do likewise,” he stated.
Rouhani also described Iran’s third step in reducing commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal as the most significant step so far, adding that Tehran would be taking more steps if necessary.
The comments came after US President Donald Trump fired Bolton, saying he had disagreed “strongly” with the hawkish advisor on policy.
Bolton is a veteran and controversial figure closely linked to the invasion of Iraq and other aggressive US foreign policy decisions. He had been seen as one of the main driving forces in the White House's muscular approach to Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and elsewhere.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has slammed Bolton as the leader of an anti-Iranian group known as the B-Team, comprised of three other anti-Iran hawks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, and crown prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.