Trump says Iran will 'suffer consequences' after speech by president Rouhani

US president issues late-night tweet in capital letters, saying Iran must ‘never, ever threaten the United States again’

Donald Trump has threatened Iran with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” in a late-night, all capital-letter tweet.

The post, sent at 11.24 pm ET on Sunday night, came after the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, warned the US about pursuing a hostile policy against his government, suggesting that “war with Iran is the mother of all wars”. Rouhani did not rule out peace, however, according to comments reported by the Iranian state news agency, IRNA.

The US president, who returned to the White House on Sunday evening after spending the weekend at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, addressed his tweet directly to Rouhani, warning the president to “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN”.

The message continued: “WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

Trump, who is still reeling from domestic criticism over his handling of a summit with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the continued fallout of the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this year. The move unravelled a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration and threatened to destabilize Iran’s denuclearisation program.

On Sunday, Rouhani addressed Trump directly during his reported remarks, saying: “Mr Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret.”

He continued: “America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”

Earlier, Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, called Iran’s ruling elite a “mafia” who have amassed vast sums of wealth while allowing their people to suffer.

As the US prepares to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran after withdrawing from the Iran deal, Pompeo said the country’s religious leaders were “hypocritical holy men”.

“Sometimes it seems the world has become desensitised to the regime’s authoritarianism at home and its campaigns of violence abroad, but the proud Iranian people are not staying silent about their government’s many abuses,” Pompeo said in prepared remarks for a speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library and museum in California.

“And the United States under President Trump will not stay silent either. In light of these protests and 40 years of regime tyranny, I have a message for the people of Iran: the United States hears you. The United States supports you. The United States is with you,” he said.

Pompeo castigated Iran’s political, judicial and military leaders, too, accusing several by name of participating in widespread corruption. He also said the government has “heartlessly repressed its own people’s human rights, dignity and fundamental freedoms”.

America’s top diplomat was particularly barbed in his remarks about “the ayatollahs,” saying they “are in on the act, too”. He said Nasser Makarem Shirazi, the grand ayatollah, had generated more than $100m for himself in the illicit trade of sugar; that Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani is worth millions after the government transferred several lucrative mines to his foundation; and that the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has an off-the-books hedge fund, Setad, worth $95bn.

“The level of corruption and wealth among regime leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government,” he said.

Pompeo’s remarks were aimed in part at Iranian-Americans and Iranians living in the US. He assured them that the Trump administration shared their dreams for the people of Iran. He also expressed support for those Iranians who have protested their government’s actions and called its response “brutal”.

Pompeo said the US was undertaking a diplomatic and financial campaign to cut off funds, focusing on reimposing sanctions on its banking and energy sectors. The US president, Donald Trump, withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal in May and the first sanctions to be reimposed were expected to hit on 4 August.

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Trump says Iran will ‘suffer consequences’ after speech by president Rouhani

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