Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned the United States’ President Donald Trump against any adventurist measure in the Middle East in his final days in office, saying that would not divert attention from his domestic failures.
His comments came after Trump accused Iran of rocket attacks on the American Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday, saying he would hold Iran responsible for any American lives lost.
At least eight Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone near the US Embassy, causing some minor damage on the compound.
On his Twitter account, Trump posted a photo of three rockets that failed to launch, claiming they came from Iran.
“Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets. Three rockets failed to launch. Guess where they were from: IRAN. Now we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq,” he said.
“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”
Zarif said the photo was a “worthless” document used by Trump to “recklessly” accuse Iran.
“Last time, the US ruined our region over [weapons of mass destruction] fabrications, wasting $7 TRILLION & causing 58,976 American casualties,” he tweeted, referring to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq under former US president, George Bush.
“FAR WORSE this time. Trump will bear full responsibility for any adventurism on his way out,” he added.
In an earlier tweet, the foreign minister had also said Trump is threatening the lives of American citizens through such adventurist measures to cover up his own failures, including in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Putting your own citizens at risk abroad won't divert attention from catastrophic failures at home,” he said.
He then highlighted the multiple days during Trump’s tenure when the death toll caused only by Covid-19 exceeded the casualties of major catastrophes such as the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the Okeenchobee hurricane in 1928.
Zarif also attached several past tweets by Trump in which he had accused his predecessor Barak Obama of intending to start a war for personal gains such as getting elected, or due to his inability to negotiate properly.
Obama did not get into a war with Iran and instead reached a landmark multinational deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015, from which Trump pulled out unilaterally in 2018, in the vain hope of pressurizing Tehran into signing a more comprehensive agreement.
