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"COLOR US UNIMPRESSED," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted Monday night, employing Trump's penchant to use all capital letters in his tweets.

"The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them -- albeit more civilized ones -- for 40 yrs. We've been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS."

Zarif's online comments are the latest in the escalating war of words between Washington and Tehran. Zarif's tweet comes less than a day after Trump posted a furious Twitter warning to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

"NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE," Trump tweeted after returning to the White House from a weekend at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey.

"WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"

Later Monday morning, national security adviser John Bolton said Trump told him that "if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before."

Foreign policy challenge

Iran experts are unsure if the 280 character-limit broadsides are more likely to foreshadow conflict or if they are a way to project strength before engaging Tehran diplomatically.

Trump employed similarly heated rhetoric when responding to threats and missile tests by North Korea last year.

"The reality is he's such an erratic President that you could see him dropping bombs on Iran or you could see him trying to build hotels in Iran," said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment.

"He's much more impulsive than he is strategic."

When asked if Trump risked inciting war with Iran, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Monday morning, "if anybody is inciting anything, look no further than to Iran."

She wouldn't directly say whether Trump consulted with his national security team before the tweet. He speaks with them daily, she said, but declined to give any details about any steps Trump is looking to take with Iran.

"The President's been, I think, pretty strong since day one in his language toward Iran. He was responding to comments made from them, and he's going to continue to focus on the safety and security of American people," Sanders said at the White House briefing later Monday. She declined repeated questions about whether Trump would consider meeting with Rouhani.

Trump came into office vowing to take a hard line on Iran and scrap the Obama-negotiated nuclear deal of 2015, a promise he fulfilled in May.

The agreement forced Iran to curtail its uranium enrichment capacity to prevent it developing nuclear weapons, and imposed stringent verification processes, in exchange for relief on crippling sanctions.

One of Trump's many criticisms of the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was that it did not do enough to stop Iran from funding extremist groups throughout the Middle East.

The other signatories to the deal, including France, the UK and Germany, have vowed to stand by it.

'Something that resembles the mafia'

"The level of corruption and wealth among regime leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government," Pompeo said during an appearance at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

Like Trump, Pompeo is a longstanding critic of the nuclear deal.

"We are asking every nation who is sick and tired of the Islamic Republic's destructive behavior to join our pressure campaign. This especially goes for our allies in the Middle East and Europe, people who have themselves been terrorized by violent regime activity for decades," said Pompeo.

Pompeo, the former director of the CIA, also used the speech to allege that the county's leaders have made billions of dollars from corrupt dealings.

The secretary accused Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's head of state, of maintaining a personal off-the-books hedge fund worth $95 billion.

"These hypocritical holy men have devised all kinds of crooked schemes to become some of the wealthiest men on Earth while their people suffer."

Link:
Iran shoots back at Trump: 'Color us unimpressed'

WASHINGTON -- President Trump warned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani early Monday that he will face dire consequences for threatening the United States. Mr. Trump tweeted in all capital letters about the dangers to Iran of making hostile threats after Rouhani said Sunday, "American must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars."

Within hours, Iranian state-owned news agency IRNA dismissed Mr. Trump's tweet, describing it as a "passive reaction" to Rouhani's remarks.

The agency, a government mouthpiece, also said Monday that Mr. Trump's comment was only mimicking and copying Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who had in the past warned the West to "never threaten an Iranian."

Mr. Trump earlier this year pulled the United States out of the international deal meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon and ordered increased American sanctions.

Rouhani had warned Mr. Trump Sunday to stop "playing with the lion's tail" and threatening Iran, "or else you will regret it."

Mr. Trump has suggested Iranian leaders are "going to call me and say 'let's make a deal'" but Iran has rejected talks.

Rouhani has previously lashed out against Mr. Trump for threatening to re-impose the sanctions, as well as for moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and banning travel to the U.S. from certain Muslim-majority countries.

Mr. Trump's early Monday tweet suggested he has little patience with the trading of hostile messages with Iran.

Mr. Trump has a history of firing off heated tweets that seem to quickly escalate long-standing disputes with leaders of nations at odds with the U.S.

In the case of North Korea, the public war of words cooled quickly and gradually led to the high profile summit and denuclearization talks.

Of the tweet by Mr. Trump, the Reuters news service says, "The escalation in rhetoric came as the Trump administration has launched an offensive of speeches and online communications meant to foment unrest and help pressure Iran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter."

In California Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was strongly critical of Tehran.

He called the religious leaders of Iran "hypocritical holy men" who amassed vast sums of wealth while allowing their people to suffer, part of a highly critical broadside issued as the republic approached the 40th anniversary of its Islamic revolution and the U.S. prepared to reimpose the economic sanctions.

In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, 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."

He said despite poor treatment by their leaders, "the proud Iranian people are not staying silent about their government's many abuses."

"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," he said. "The United States supports you. The United States is with you."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Mr. Trump for his "strong stance" on Iran.

Netanyahu said Mr. Trump and his secretary of state were taking a clear position against "Iranian aggression" after years in which the "regime was pampered by world powers."

The Israeli prime minister spoke at his weekly Cabinet meeting Monday, after Mr. Trump's tweet.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Monday that the president was responding to Iran and that he's "not going to allow them to continue to make threats against America. If anybody is inciting anything look no further than to Iran."

Asked if he had consulted with this national security team before tweeting the edict, Sanders said that the president consults with his national security team "on a daily basis."

National security adviser John Bolton said in a statement on Monday that he had spoken to Mr. Trump over the last several days, "and President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before."

A high-ranking Iranian officer says Mr. Trump's Monday warning was nothing but "psychological warfare."

Gen. Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, the chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's volunteer Basij force, also said Monday that Mr. Trump "won't dare" take any military action against Iran. Gheibparvar's comments were reported by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told The Associated Press he doubted it would come to a military confrontation between Iran and the United States, despite the escalating rhetoric.

Falahatpisheh says Mr. Trump and his Iranian counterpart "express themselves through speeches since diplomatic channels are closed" as the two countries haven't had diplomatic relations since 1979.

He says that unlike North Korea, "Iran never moved toward a nuclear bomb" and that therefore, "Iran is angry since Trump responded to Tehran's engagement diplomacy by pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear deal."

More here:
Trump warns Iran's president in all-caps tweet to stop ...

WASHINGTON/ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran on Monday dismissed an angry warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that Tehran risked dire consequences the like of which few throughout history have suffered before if it made threats against the United States.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at Trumps warning, which the U.S. leader delivered written in capital letters in a late-night tweet.

COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them - albeit more civilized ones - for 40 yrs. Weve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries, Zarif wrote on Twitter.

BE CAUTIOUS! he wrote in capital letters, echoing exact words from Trump.

Iran has been under increasing U.S. pressure and possible sanctions since Trumps decision in May to withdraw the United States from a 2015 agreement between world powers and Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

Bitter foes since Irans 1979 revolution, Washington and Tehran have cranked up talk of war in recent days.

The Trump administration has launched an offensive of speeches and online communications meant to foment unrest and help pressure Iran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups.

Despite the heightened rhetoric, both sides have reasons to want to avoid starting a conflict.

Trumps words appeared to be in response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani saying that hostile policies toward Tehran could lead to the mother of all wars.

In his tweet directed at Rouhani, Trump wrote: 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!

Rouhani had told a gathering of Iranian diplomats on Sunday: Mr Trump, dont play with the lions tail, this would only lead to regret.

America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars, said Rouhani, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.

Trump is under pressure from U.S. lawmakers for taking too soft a line against Russia in a summit last week with President Vladimir Putin.

President Trump has failed to assure Americans he would side with us over Russia. To distract from the Helsinki disaster, he has launched a childish all-caps Twitter tirade against Iran. Barstool threats dont make us safe, they make us look silly and weak, said Congressman Eric Swalwell, a Democrat on the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Trumps Iran tweet resembled ones he issued last year to warn North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. But in June, Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the first U.S.-North Korean summit. After the meeting both sides declared a new friendship and made vague pledges of nuclear disarmament.

At the White House, Trump later on Monday said, none at all, in response to a shouted question about whether he had any concerns about provoking tensions with Iran.

Although Rouhani left open the possibility of peace between Tehran and Washington, Irans most powerful authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday ruled out negotiations with the United States as an obvious mistake.

There is limited appetite in Washington for a conflict with Iran, not least because of the difficulties the U.S. military faced in Iraq after its 2003 invasion but also because of the impact on the global economy if conflict raised oil prices.

Many ordinary Iranians are worried that the war of words might lead to a military confrontation but insiders in Tehran told Reuters they believed the Trump administration would not drag the United States into another quagmire in the Middle East.

With popular discontent over Irans faltering economy and sliding currency, and the prospect of tough new U.S. sanctions, Irans leaders have called for unity.

The Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar on the unofficial market on Monday amid fears of a military confrontation. The dollar was being offered for as much as 92,000 rials, compared to around 75,000 last week.

Many Iranians are largely skeptical of the Trump administrations professed support for Iranian citizens because of the harsh U.S. sanctions on the country and a visa ban imposed on Iranians barring them from entering the United States.

While Washington prepares to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran after pulling out of the nuclear deal, Irans faction-ridden religious and political elites have closed ranks against Trumps hawkish approach to Tehran.

However, growing strains with the United States will eventually boost Rouhanis anti-Western hardline rivals who fear losing power if the nuclear accord, championed by Rouhani, ended the countrys political and economic isolation.

While the United States has a substantial military presence in the region, a full-scale military confrontation with Iran would be a major, costly endeavor that could eclipse the U.S. war in Iraq. It could also distract from other U.S. national security priorities, including Russia and North Korea.

In reaction to Irans threats, the U.S. military has renewed a vow to secure the free flow of oil from the Strait of Hormuz. However, at least as of last week, the Pentagon said those Iranian threats had not led the U.S. military to reposition or add to forces in the Middle East.

We havent adjusted our force posture in response to any of those statements. And I dont think thats warranted. I wouldnt recommend that, John Rood, under secretary of defense for policy, told a security forum in Colorado on Friday.

Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Phil Stewart and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington, Brendan O'Brien, Dubai newsroom, Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Parisa Hafezi and Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish

The rest is here:
Iran dismisses angry Trump warning against threatening U.S ...

ISTANBUL Iranian officials accused the White House of waging psychological warfare and vowed Monday to resist any U.S. efforts to destabilize their government, after stark warnings by President Trump against perceived Iranian threats.

The backlash from Tehran contributed to one of the harshest exchanges between Irans leadership and Washington since the Trump administration exited the 2015 nuclear deal in May and moved to reimpose sanctions on Iran.

That accord, signed by the United States and other world powers, eased international economic pressures on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. It was the signature achievement of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who championed dialogue with the West as a path toward ending Irans isolation.

Trumps threat on Twitter appeared to be a response to remarks by Rouhani in which he said any war with Iran would be the mother of all wars. Rouhani had also said that the United States must realize that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, Irans Tasnim News Agency reported.

Trump fired back in a tweet in capital letters, saying that if Rouhani ever threatened the United States again, Iran 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, Trump wrote. BE CAUTIOUS!

[Trump warns: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN ]

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who negotiated the nuclear deal, posted a tweet using capital letters and similar warnings.

COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago, Zarif wrote, in an apparent reference to the speech Trump made when he announced the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement. ...Weve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS! he wrote.

The bellicose rhetoric, coming just weeks before the United States is to impose the first round of renewed trade and financial sanctions, has prompted Irans government and political factions to close ranks. Hard-liners, who otherwise despise Rouhani, have eased some of their criticism in recent weeks. They saw his diplomatic approach to the West as naive and had pushed for his resignation.

As recently as June, a military adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and former chief of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps said the country might be better managed if there was no administration at all an ominous dig at Rouhani.

But in recent weeks, the presidents willingness to depart from his diplomatic tone and instead push back against U.S. pressure has won him praise from those same hard-liners.

Rouhanis sharpest remarks came earlier this month when he suggested in a speech in Switzerland that Iran could disrupt oil trade in the Persian Gulf. Many saw this as a veiled threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea lane for oil shipments.

Existential external pressures close the gap between all factions and force activists from all walks of life to unite under the same flag, said Reza Akbari, who researches Iranian politics at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Washington.

According to Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the political-risk firm Eurasia Group, Rouhani has moved significantly to the right since the U.S. left the JCPOA the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal is formally known. That, Kupchan said, has created a more unified elite.

On Monday, the head of Irans paramilitary Basij force, Brig. Gen. Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, dismissed Trumps salvos as psychological warfare.

We will never abandon our revolutionary beliefs. We will resist pressure from the enemies, the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. The comments were carried by the Iranian Students News Agency. Trump cannot do a damn thing against Iran, he said.

Amid the saber-rattling, the Iranian rial plunged Monday to a record low against the dollar. The currency has lost much of its value in recent months, causing chaos in the black market and foreign-exchange bureaus in Tehran.

Last month, shop owners in the citys famed bazaar went on strike to protest the ailing currency and rising prices. The demonstrations were among many that have taken place across Iran this year over a range of issues, including unpaid salaries, water cuts and mass layoffs.

In a speech to a crowd of Iranian Americans in California on Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a longtime Iran hawk, hailed the demonstrations as a response to myriad government failures, corruption and disrespect of rights. He outlined the administrations new strategy against Iran, including targeted messaging on social media and broadcast channels. He said the United States was stepping up efforts to help Iranians bypass Internet restrictions.

Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, said that Pompeos speech was hypocritical and absurd.

These remarks are a clear example of [U.S.] interference in Irans internal affairs, Tasnim quoted Qassemi as saying.

Irans government is buying time, according to Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington. They are openly hoping that Trump will be a one-term president, he said. For this Iranian regime, Trump is simply too unpredictable and therefore best avoided.

Vatanka said he believes that members of Rouhanis team are arguing for preparing the ground to talk to the next American president.

But Iran can dodge the Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign for only so long. And recent military skirmishes between the Revolutionary Guard and Israeli forces in Syria have raised the specter of escalating conflict.

Risk is on the rise. Neither side wants war, Kupchan wrote in a briefing note Monday. But, when threatened, Iran normally doesnt hesitate to respond, he said. And tensions could rise in the Persian Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz, where U.S. naval vessels patrol.

A deadly encounter would be escalatory, to put it mildly, he wrote.

John Wagner and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more

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Originally posted here:
Trump's tirade on Iran: Tehran scoffs at 'psychological ...

One of the scientists warned that work on neutrons that create the chain reaction for a nuclear explosion must be hidden. Neutrons research could not be considered overt and needs to be concealed, his notes read. We cannot excuse such activities as defensive. Neutron activities are sensitive, and we have no explanation for them. That caution, the documents show, came from Masoud Ali Mohammadi, an Iranian nuclear physicist at the University of Tehran, who was assassinated in January 2010.

Mr. Netanyahu argues that the trove proves that the 2015 agreement, with its sunset clauses allowing the Iranians to produce nuclear fuel again after 2030, was nave. The fact that the Iranians went to such lengths to preserve what they had learned, and hid the archives contents from international inspectors in an undeclared site despite an agreement to reveal past research, is evidence of their future intent, he has said.

But the same material could also be interpreted as a strong argument for maintaining and extending the nuclear accord as long as possible. The deal deprived the Iranians of the nuclear fuel they would need to turn the designs into reality.

Former members of the Obama administration, who negotiated the deal, say the archive proves what they had suspected all along: that Iran had advanced fuel capability, warhead designs and a plan to build them rapidly. That was why they negotiated the accord, which forced Iran to ship 97 percent of its nuclear fuel out of the country. Tehran would never have agreed to a permanent ban, they said.

The archive captures the program at a moment in time a moment 15 years ago, before tensions accelerated, before the United States and Israel attacked Irans nuclear centrifuges with a cyberweapon, before an additional underground enrichment center was built and discovered.

Today, despite Mr. Trumps decision to exit the deal with Iran, it remains in place. The Iranians have not yet resumed enrichment or violated its terms, according to international inspectors. But if sanctions resume, and more Western companies leave Iran, it is possible that Iranian leaders will decide to resume nuclear fuel production.

The warehouse the Israelis penetrated was put into use only after the 2015 accord was reached with the United States, European powers, Russia and China. That pact granted broad rights to the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit suspected nuclear sites, including on military bases.

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How Israel, in Dark of Night, Torched Its Way to Irans ...