Omar Rips Trump's 'Locked and Loaded' Remark, Blames US President for Escalation with Iran

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar blasted President Donald Trump over his handling of Iran and suggested that his administration is to blame over the increased tensions between the two nations.

News ID: 447109

Date: 18 September 2019 - 22:32

RNA - Ten drones flown by Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement targeted Saudi Arabia’s key oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais on Saturday. The attacks shut down about 50 percent of the kingdom’s crude and gas production, and cut the state oil giant’s crude oil supply by around 5.7 million barrels per day.

Following the strikes, Trump said that the United States is “locked and loaded” for a possible response to the Yemeni drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities. The American president added that Washington has a "reason to believe that we know" who is responsible for the attacks carried out against the kingdom’s key oil facilities.

Appearing on CNN Monday evening, Omar mocked Trump's tweet when asked if she knew what it meant.

"I don't, a lot of people don't, and I don't even think Iran really fully cares about that and I don't think a lot of the world cares about that," Omar chuckled.

"I think what this president and this administration does is that they say a lot of things and they really don't understand the consequences it has on the world stage," the Muslim congresswoman noted.

"When you think about what has happened in regards to the relationship with Iran. We've worked really hard to improve relations, to make sure that we were bringing them to the table and one of the first things this administration did was to take us out of the Iran Nuclear Deal. And none of this would have happened if we didn't put further sanctions that devastated the middle class in Iran and now has put our two countries in the brink of war," the Minnesota lawmaker stressed.

Without providing any reliable proof, Trump on Monday noted that “it certainly would look like” Iran was the culprit. Yet, the American leader also stated he doesn’t want another war.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also put the blame for the operation on Iran on Sunday, claiming, “Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia” and that “there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen”.

Tehran, however, dismissed the allegation, saying Washington seems to be shifting from a failed campaign of “maximum pressure” to one of “maximum lying” and “deceit” against the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi blasted Pompeo for his big lies against Tehran, and categorically rejected his allegations about Iran's involvement in Yemeni attacks on Saudi Arabia.

"Such allegations and blind and fruitless remarks are meaningless and not understood in diplomatic framework," he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also responded to Pompeo’s claim, stressing that the American diplomat is now resorting to a campaign of “max deceit” against Tehran after the administration he serves failed to achieve the desired results from its anti-Iran “maximum pressure” policy — which has seen Washington impose the toughest of economic sanctions against the Iranian nation.

“US & its clients are stuck in Yemen because of illusion that weapon superiority will lead to military victory,” Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Tensions mounted between Tehran and Washington last May, when Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and re-imposed harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism. The American leader and his hawkish advisers then-National Security Advisor John Bolton and Pompeo have since been stepping up pressure against Iranians.

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