Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday harshly rebuked the United States’ withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or Iran nuclear deal, describing President Donald Trump’s pullout statement as “vulgar and commonplace.”
“The U.S. President lied at least ten times in his statement and threatened both the Iranian nation and the country’s political establishment,” Khamenei said in a statement posted to his official website, according to Radio Farda.
Khamenei’s official website translates his subsequent comment as “I answer him, as a representative of the Iranian population: ‘Donald Trump, you cannot lift one finger against us.’”
“Trump will whither away, perish, and his body will decompose: but, the Islamic Republic will still be thriving,” Khamenei added.
The supreme leader reportedly declared, “The U.S. wishes to tell the Islamic Republic what to do, but the Iranians are an independent nation and Americans cannot stand this.”
Khamenei went on to insult the other European members of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, and tell Trump to “go to hell with your failures” in Iraq and Syria.”
During his historic speech on Tuesday, Trump delivered a message “to the long-suffering people of Iran,” saying, “The people of America stand with you.” Trump continued:
It has now been almost 40 years since this dictatorship seized power and took a proud nation hostage. Most of Iran’s 80 million citizens have sadly never known an Iran that prospered in peace with its neighbors and commanded the admiration of the world. But the future of Iran belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land, and they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history and glory to God.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani was the first Iranian official to publicly react to America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA. He suggested the move was meaningless, saying, “From this moment on, the JCPOA (nuclear agreement) is between Iran and five countries. The plus one no longer exists and, under these circumstances, we have to wait and see how these six countries will react to this agreement.”
Radio Farda noted that Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament (or Majles) characterized Trump’s speech as “a political show” and said his words were “un-calculated and vulgar.”
The publication, as well as several others, reported that Larijani said Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization should be prepared to resume nuclear activity.
During Wednesday’s parliamentary session, several politicians set an American flag on fire and chanted “Death to America.” The lawmakers reportedly also torched a symbolic copy of the Iran deal before vowing to increase spending on the country’s ballistic missile program.
President Trump also stated on Tuesday that “America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction. And we will not allow a regime that chants “Death to America” to gain access to the most deadly weapons on Earth.”
He added, “Today’s action sends a critical message. The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them.”
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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