Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has warned US President Donald Trump that he will "bear full responsibility for any adventurism on his way out", when it comes to POTUS' allegations that Iran is responsible for staging a rocket strike on the American Embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
On Thursday, the top Iranian diplomat tweeted that Trump "uses a worthless photo to recklessly accuse Iran", an apparent reference to POTUS previously tweeting a photo of three small rockets he claimed had failed to launch as he pointed the finger at Iran.
.@realDonaldTrump uses a worthless photo to recklessly accuse Iran.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 24, 2020
Last time, the US ruined our region over WMD fabrications, wasting $7 TRILLION & causing 58,976 American casualties.
FAR WORSE this time. Trump will bear full responsibility for any adventurism on his way out. pic.twitter.com/scCeSwjUmE
Zarif added in a tweet that "last time, the US ruined" the Middle East region "over WMD [weapons of mass destruction] fabrications [against Iraq], wasting $7 trillion and causing 58,976 American casualties".
The foreign minister also attached to the tweet separate photos of former US President George W Bush against the backdrop of the "mission accomplished" sign and of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clutching hands in a sign of solidarity.
This came shortly after Zarif's tweet in which he insisted that putting American citizens "at risk abroad won't divert attention from catastrophic failures at home". The post contained an image of a recently-published chart that summarises the 20 days in the past 100 years with the most American deaths from a natural disaster, war, or pandemic.
Putting your own citizens at risk abroad won't divert attention from catastrophic failures at home.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) December 24, 2020
In your own words @realDonaldTrump: pic.twitter.com/kbtL8GWLHm
Zarif additionally slammed Trump for hypocrisy, reposting images of tweets by POTUS from previous years where he claimed that ex-US President Barack Obama would target Iran to boost his popularity at home and "save face".
The development followed Trump accusing Tehran of staging the 20 December attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad. POTUS then went even further by giving "some friendly health advice to Iran" and cautioning that "if one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible; think it over".
The statement came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, and acting US Defence Secretary Christopher Miller met at the White House on Wednesday to decide on "a range of options" to present to Trump as a response to the Sunday rocket attack on the US Embassy, which did minor damage to the structure and killed an Iraqi civilian.
US-Iran Tensions
The attack took place amid ongoing US-Iran tensions that further worsened in early 2020, when top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike authorised by Trump.
The tensions have persisted since Washington's unilateral exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), announced by POTUS in May 2018, and the re-imposition of crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Exactly a year later, Tehran declared that it would start scaling down its key JCPOA commitments.
