US President tells Tehran not to make ‘bad mistake,’ after US-bound Saudi oil tanker targeted in mysterious Persian Gulf attack
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US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Iran would “suffer greatly” were it to “do anything,” after US intelligence suggested Tehran was planning to attack US interests in the region.
“I’m hearing little stories about Iran,” Trump told reporters as he hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House.
“If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake,” Trump warned. “If they do anything they will suffer greatly.”
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Trump’s warning came as Saudi Arabia said two of its US-bound oil tankers were sabotaged and received “significant damage” Sunday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Details of the incident remain unclear. But it raised risks for shippers in a region vital to global energy supplies at a time of increasing tensions between the US and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.
A US official told Reuters Monday that Washington suspected Iranian involvement, but could not prove it.
““This is what Iran does … The sort of thing you could see Iran doing,” the official said.
Asked about the sabotage on Monday, Trump responded: “It’s going to be a bad problem for Iran if something happens.”
Washington has warned shipping companies that “Iran or its proxies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf region and said it was deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged threats from Tehran.
The spike in tensions comes a week after Iran announced it was suspending some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement, one year after Trump withdrew from the accord and slapped tough sanctions on the Islamic republic.
In the face of growing international concern, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday scrapped a trip to Moscow, heading instead to Brussels to discuss the Iran crisis with his European counterparts.
Trump last week declared himself open to talks with the Iranian leadership, a position reiterated on Monday by Brian Hook, the US special envoy for Iran.
“We believe that Iran should try talks instead of threats. They have chosen poorly by focusing on threats,” Hook told reporters.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-tanker-blasts-trump-warns-iran-it-will-suffer-greatly/.
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