Rouhani: Never threaten great Iranian nation

The Iranian president tweeted late on Monday that those referring to the number 52 are better to think about the number 290 as well. Never threaten the great Iranian nation.

President Rouhani by number 290 was referring to Iran Air flight 655, flight of an Iranian airliner that was shot down by the missile cruiser USS Vincennes on July 3, 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 people on board. The passenger plane, which was in Iranian airspace.

After assassination of Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani, Trump wrote in a series of tweets that if Iran makes a move to avenge the assassination of Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani, the United States will “target 52 Iranian sites” and that some were “at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself.”

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Moahammad Javad Zarif reacted to US claims on targeting cultural sites, and said “We are standing tall.”

“A reminder to those hallucinating about emulating ISIS war crimes by targeting our cultural heritage: Through MILLENNIA of history, barbarians have come and ravaged our cities, razed our monuments and burnt our libraries,”Zarif tweeted on Sunday.

“Where are they now? We’re still here, & standing tall,” he added.

8072**2050

Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish