Iran’s top diplomat said his country will not interfere in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, but the promise came with a side of tough talk about what he described as an ongoing cyber war.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Chuck Todd in a “Meet the Press” interview set to air Sunday that “any war that the United States starts it won’t be able to finish.”
“We don’t interfere in the internal affairs of another country,” Zarif said. “But there is a cyber war going on. The United States started that cyber war, with attacking our nuclear facilities in a very dangerous, irresponsible way that could have killed millions of people.”
Zarif pointed to Stuxnet, a cyberattack reportedly launched against the Iranian nuclear program during the Obama administration and thought by experts to be a joint collaboration by the U.S. and Israel.
“There is a cyber war,” Zarif added, “And Iran is engaged in that cyber war.”
But he insisted that Iran has no preference in the 2020 presidential election and will not interfere.
The U.S. and its European allies accused Iran of military strikes against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, with Iran denying any involvement.
In an interview Sept. 19, Zarif threatened “all-out war” if the U.S. or Saudi Arabia launched a retaliatory strike following the oil reserve attack.
___
© 2019 New York Daily News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
