President Donald Trump is “certainly not going to tolerate” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s threats against Americans, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders warned Monday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“Look, the president’s been clear from the beginning — since the first day he took office and even before — that nuclear proliferation was something that he was not going to tolerate, something that he would aggressively stand up and talk about,” Sanders said.
“He certainly is not going to listen to aggressive leaders from other countries and their empty threats against America. And he’s going to stand up and make sure we’re protecting Americans and certainly protect the world from nuclear proliferation,” Sanders added. “It’s something he takes seriously, and he’s going to continue to be tough on this topic.”
Rouhani threatened the U.S. Sunday in Tehran while meeting with other Iranian diplomats, according to Iran’s state-owned news agency, IRNA.
“America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Rouhani said as he rebuked Trump’s policies regarding Iran. “Do not play with the lion’s tail or else you will regret it.”
Trump responded on Twitter late Sunday, writing, “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”
To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
The U.S. and Iran experienced increased tensions after Trump withdrew from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal in May and increased sanctions against Iranian oil imports in June. And Sanders warned that Iran could face further severe consequences if the hostile rhetoric continues.
“As you know, we’re never going to broadcast what actions the president may or may not take or what specific actions [are] going to prompt him to take things a step further,” Sanders said. “He’s monitoring and watching the actions of Iran, and if needed, he will take what steps are necessary to protect people in this country and certainly to protect the world from nuclear proliferation.”
Although some mainstream media members and Democratic lawmakers openly worried whether Trump was trying to incite a war through his tough rhetoric on Twitter, Sanders dismissed the idea.
“The only person that is inciting anything is Iran,” Sanders insisted. “The president has been very, very clear again since day one what his objectives are, and he’s certainly not going to tolerate the leader of Iran making threats against Americans, making threats against this country, making threats against Israel.”
Related: Don’t Do Business with Iran, Bolton Warns Euro Firms
National security adviser John Bolton backed Trump’s tweet Monday, telling reporters in a statement, “I spoke to the president over the last several days, and President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before.”
Bolton also warned in May during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that it was “possible” the U.S. may impose sanctions on European companies that keep doing business with Iran.
Sanders emphasized that “this is a president who is going to stand up and make sure he is doing what is necessary” to promote U.S. interests while “showing peace through strength.”
“This is a president wants to work with other world leaders. This is a president who wants to bring people together, but at the same time he is going to do what is necessary to protect Americans and to make sure he has laid that out clearly,” Sanders added.
“I don’t think that there’s any question what Donald Trump’s idea is here, which is he’s going to do whatever is necessary to protect Americans,” she said.
(photo credit, article image: Hassan Rouhani, CC BY 4.0, by Kremlin.ru / Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore)
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