Tag: Ahmad Khatami

TEHRAN, Iran — A prominent Iranian cleric on Friday threatened two Israeli cities with destruction if the Jewish state “acts foolishly” and attacks its interests again, while thousands of protesters demonstrated against President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers. The comments by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami followed a week of escalating tensions that threaten to spill over into a wider conflict between the two bitter enemies, who have long fought each other through proxies in Syria and Lebanon. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two rivals to date. “The holy system of the Islamic Republic will step up its missile capabilities day by day so that Israel, this occupying regime, will become sleepless and the nightmare will constantly haunt it that if it does anything foolish, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground,” he said, according to state television. His remarks drew chants of “Death to America!” from those gathered for Friday prayers in Tehran. It called on the other parties to the agreement — especially Britain, France and Germany — to safeguard the accord, adding that no provisions or timeframes in the 2015 agreement “are negotiable in any manner.” At the same time, the government said it has tasked the president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran with “taking all necessary steps in preparation for Iran to pursue industrial-scale enrichment without any restrictions.” After Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the deal on Tuesday, Rouhani warned that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an even higher rate if the accord collapses. The 2015 nuclear deal imposed restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of most of the U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran. However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its regional policies. “Or do we want to say we have our economic interests, we consider we will continue to do trade with Iran?” European governments tried for months to persuade Trump to stick with the deal but failed, and now fear it will raise the risk of conflict in the region. And European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insisted that it’s not up to the U.S. to determine the deal’s future anyway.