Iran FM: Trump reaction to Tehran terror attacks ‘repugnant’
While sending condolences for deadly assault, US president comments that ‘states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote’
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TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s reaction to the deadly Islamic State group attacks in Tehran was “repugnant.”
“Repugnant WH (White House) statement… as Iranians counter terror backed by US clients,” Zarif tweeted.
He was responding to Trump’s comment that “states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”
Thirteen people were killed and more than 40 wounded in the attacks on Tehran’s parliament complex and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the first claimed by IS in Iran.
Trump has long accused Iran of backing terrorism and has threatened to tear up a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers.
Even as Washington expressed its condolences on Wednesday, the US Senate advanced legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran, partly for what the bill described as the Iranian regime’s “support for acts of international terrorism.”
Iranian security officials counter that it is their regional rival Saudi Arabia — a close US ally — that is responsible for funding and spreading the extremism that underpins IS.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused Riyadh and Washington of being “involved” in Wednesday’s attacks and vowed revenge.
Trump’s comments also brought criticism from Iranians on social media, who recalled their government’s offers of support and the candlelight vigils held in Iran after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The Times of Israel Community.