Iran's president has warned President Donald Trump against continuing to pursue hostile policies toward Iran, threatening "the mother of all wars" is possible.
"Don't play with fire, or you will regret," President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday in comments addressed at Trump, Iranian news agency IRNA reported. "Iranian people are the master and they will never bow to anyone."
The Iranian president, who is seen as a moderate leader against conservative forces in the Islamic Republic, said that the White House is "intervening across the region." Cautioning Trump and U.S. leaders to tread carefully, Rouhani suggested Iran ideally prefers peace.
"America should know peace with Iran is the mother of all peace," he said. However, he went on to threaten that "war with Iran is the mother of all wars."
"The U.S. Administration is at war simultaneously with the world and its own national interests," Rouhani added.
Trump has long been a staunch critic of Iran and frequently condemned the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), before taking office. The president announced in May that the U.S. would officially withdraw from the agreement, which was signed with Iran and five other world powers. Following Trump's decision, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised to implement the "strongest sanctions in history" against Tehran.
According to Reuters, Iranian leaders also fear that the U.S. may be considering an invasion of their country.
"The enemy's behavior is unpredictable," Iran's military chief of staff General Mohammad Baqeri said, the news agency reported. Baqeri added that "according to precise information," the Trump government has been "trying to persuade the U.S. military to launch an invasion [of Iran]."
However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently said that the administration's actions are intended to support the citizens of the Islamic Republic.
"It's about changing the behavior of the leadership in Iran to comport with what the Iranian people really want them to do," the secretary said, Radio Free Europe reported.
But Rouhani slammed such suggestions, arguing that it is disingenuous to simultaneously threaten Iran while claiming to support the Iranian people.
"It is not possible to provoke the Iranian people against the country's security and interests," Rouhani said. "You are declaring war against Iran and at the same time claim support [to] them?"
In June, Iranian leaders also warned that Tehran was prepared for any military aggression from the abroad. Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the top military adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the country's armed forces are prepared to handle any military threat by the U.S., Israel and their allies.
"We have learned to examine different scenarios and have a plan for every possible threat," he said
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