Iran on Saturday warned the United States that it will pay a heavy price even if it fires one bullet. Tehran’s remarks came in response to US President Donald Trump’s comment that he had ordered a military strike on Iran but pulled back at the last minute.
“Threat for threat means that if the enemy fires a single bullet at us, it will receive 10 bullets and have to pay a heavy cost,” Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Spokesperson Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi told the Tasnim news agency. “A military mistake from the enemy, particularly from the US and its regional allies, will be tantamount to firing at a powder keg on which are the US and its interests, and it will set the region ablaze and burn up the US, its interests, and its allies.”
Shekarchi told the agency that Iran will not start a war with America. But any aggression by the US will draw a “historic response” that will make the assailants regret their move. Trump had said that he stopped the US strikes after he was informed that 150 people will die in the attack.
Hostilities between the US and Iran have renewed last week after Tehran shot down an American spy drone over the Strait of Hormuz. While Tehran claimed the drone violated its airspace, the US maintained it was shot down over international waters. US strikes were planned on three sites in response to the shooting down of the unmanned drone.
The incident came at a time when the United States has accused Iran of attacking two of its oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13. Hormozgan borders the Strait of Hormuz, where the tankers were located. The US military has also accused Iran of firing a missile at a drone that had responded to the explosions. In May, Washington had alleged Tehran had orchestrated a similar attack in which four tankers in the same area were damaged.
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