Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday his country would defend itself against any potential war that might arise between the U.S. and Iran.
Zarif, speaking in Baghdad alongside Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim, said that Iran would not back down should tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate.
“We will defend against any war efforts against Iran, whether it be an economic war or a military one, and we will face these efforts with strength,” Zarif said.
There has been an overt “maximum pressure” campaign by the U.S. to target Iran’s finances, including new sweeping sanctions against Iran’s metals industry. The U.S. deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East earlier this month.
Hakim condemned the pressure campaign against Iran, referring to it as an “economic blockade.”
“We are saying very clearly and honestly that we oppose the unilateral actions taken by the United States. We stand with the Islamic Republic of Iran in its position,” Hakim said.
This month, Saudi Arabian oil tankers were attacked, with the U.S. placing the blame on Iran. Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. ally in the region and a powerful geopolitical foe of Iran. Also this month, a rocket of the same model used by Iran detonated outside the U.S. embassy in Iraq Sunday.
Trump responded by declaring that a war would be “the official end of Iran.”
