Iran’s Foreign Minister is the latest of the country’s officials to wage threats against the U.S. – this time vowing on Tuesday that America “will pay.”
During an interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif vowed retaliation and said, “The United States took an act of war against Iran; it will have to be prepared for the consequences.”
Zarif added that it will then be up to the U.S. to decide whether to “get itself into a quagmire or whether it wants to stop” in response to Iran’s retaliation.
He did not indicate when or where an attack would take place, noting only that, “it will be taken at a time of our choosing, not the United States’ choosing.”
Zarif referred to “three great mistakes” the U.S. has made, accusing the U.S. of violating Iraqi sovereignty, angering a “large number of people” that Zarif says will lead to the end of U.S. presence in the region, and killing Iran’s highest-ranking general.
“The government of Iran is responsible for protecting the lives of its citizens and its officials, and so it’s obvious that we will respond,” Zarif said.
Also on Tuesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top commander, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, vowed to “set ablaze” numerous U.S.-backed locations in retaliation for killing Soleimani.
“We will take revenge. We will set ablaze where they like,” Salami said, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The crowd responded in chants of “Death to Israel!”
Zarif and Salami’s threats also follow those made by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who vowed the U.S. military will “pay the price” for killed Soleimani, Politico reported.
Nasrallah warned that all U.S. bases, troops, and ships could be targeted, and warned that suicide bombers “are still here and their numbers have increased.”
