Tabnak – US President Donald Trump’s last night speech, in which he targeted Iran with an array of accusations, sparked many reactions in Iran, both among the governmental officials and the public opinion. Both have made it clear that Iran won’t surrender to America’s hostile approach.
Shortly after Trump’s speech on Saturday night, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made a TV appearance, saying that US President’s speech against the Islamic Republic was nothing more than insults and delirious talk. "Mr. Trump’s remarks on Iran…contained nothing but expletives and a pile of delusional allegations against the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.
Censuring Trump for calling the Persian Gulf the "Arabian Gulf," Rouhani urged the US president to brush up on his world history and geography to improve his comprehension of international obligations and global ethics, etiquette and conventions.
"How [is it possible] that a president has not yet learned the name of the world-renowned and historical Persian Gulf… where unfortunately US warships unnecessarily and repeatedly sail through? He could have at least asked his [country’s] military officials how the name of this gulf is printed on the maps they use,” Rouhani stated.
Apart from Rouhani, the Iranian foreign minister also condemned Trump's speech against Iran as "inane,” stressing that using threats against the Islamic Republic will prove to be ineffective.
"Allegations, threats and profanity will never intimidate Iranians. Trump will eventually discover this; as every predecessor did,” Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.
"Everyone knew Trump’s friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is too,” Zarif wrote in another Tweet, referring to Trump’s using of an incorrect name instead of the Persian Gulf in his speech.
On the other hand, Iran’s Armed Forces reacted to a move by the United States’ Treasury Department to blacklist the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), pledging to continue to boost Iran’s defensive power.
"On behalf of the Armed Forces and the entire prudent people of the Islamic Iran, we tell the corrupt and rogue US government that the trend toward the boosting of Iran’s defensive power in order to counter America’s corrupt regime will continue unabated and with more motivation and determination,” said Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, who is the chief spokesman for Iran’s Armed Forces, on Friday.
The remarks came hours after Trump said in his speech that he was authorizing the US Treasury Department to impose further sanctions on "the entire” IRGC for what he claimed was "its support for terrorism.” Trump stopped short of designating the IRGC as "a foreign terrorist organization,” however, as some reports had indicated he would do.
In his speech last night, the US president refused to certify the 2015 international nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany and warned he might ultimately terminate it, in defiance of other world powers and undermining a landmark victory of multilateral diplomacy.
Trump said he would choose not to certify that Tehran is complying with the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump also said his goal is to ensure Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, adding, "We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout."
