Iran Downplays Trump's Warning

Rasa - Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council (EC) Mohsen Rezayee played down Donald Trump's twitter warning, stressing that no one, even more powerful than the US president, can confront Tehran.

News ID: 427091

Date: 03 February 2017 - 23:19

RNA - "Mr. Trump has twitted that 'I have warned Iran (Iran has been put on notice)'. (I tell him that) People bigger (more powerful) than you have warned Iran and couldn’t do anything," Rezayee said, addressing a gathering in Tehran on Friday.

He called on Trump to think more about his words on Iran, and warned him not to be fooled by Saudi King Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into taking more hostile measures against Tehran.

Trump early Thursday echoed his national security adviser Michael Flynn’s comments a day earlier that Iran is now formally “on notice” for firing a ballistic missile.

“Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile. Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!” he tweeted, without providing any other details.

“Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the U.S. came along and gave it a life-line in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion,” he added.

Flynn during a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room on Wednesday criticized Iran for its recent ballistic missile test.

In response, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani underlined his country's continued progress and advancement in its defense and missile program, saying that the country is strongly opposed to foreign interference.

"We will not take permission from any country or international organization to develop our conventional defense power and we will confront any foreign interference in the defense affairs, including the Islamic Republic of Iran's missile power," Shamkhani said in a meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan in Tehran on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, he blasted the western countries for their attempts to use sanctions to restrict the countries which are victims of terrorism, including Iran and Syria, and the West's support for terrorist groups.

"The Takfiri armed groups which are supported by certain regional states intellectually and financially beside the Zionist regime are two main threats to global security and unfortunately, the paper coalitions (those which have merely been formed on paper and take no practical measures) have not had any defensible performance in controlling these threats," Shamkhani said.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan confirmed on Wednesday that his country has tested a missile recently, describing it as part of Iran's defense programs.

"The recent test was in line with our programs and we don’t allow any foreign party to interfere in our defense affairs," General Dehqan told reporters in Tehran in reaction to the recent UN Security Council meeting on Iran's missile test.

He underscored that the missile test "contradicts neither the nuclear deal (between Iran and the world powers signed in 2015) nor the Resolution 2231".

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