The Telegraph, 8 FEBRUARY 2017 – The White House has issued a warning to Iran that “there’s a new president in town” and it would not “sit by” and allow the country to pursue its military ambitions.
Diplomatic tensions were ratcheted up after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public speech since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
He dismissed the US decision to put Iran “on notice” over a recent ballistic missile test and called on Iranians to take part in demonstrations on Friday, when the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution will be marked.
Mr Khamenei said: “We are thankful to (Trump) for making our life easy as he showed the real face of America.
“He says ’You should be afraid of me’. No! The Iranian people will respond to his words on February 10 and will show their stance against such threats.”
Mr Trump responded to the January 29 missile test by saying Iran was “playing with fire” and imposed fresh sanctions on individuals, some of them linked to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard.
The missile test was not a direct breach of Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers, but the White House said it “violated the spirit of that”.
Last night Mr Trump’s spokesman Sean Spicer re-iterated his firm stance.
“I think the Ayatollah is going to realize there’s a new president in office,” Mr Spicer said.
“This president’s not going to sit by and let Iran flout its violations, or its apparent violations, to the joint agreement, but he will continue to take action as he sees fit.
“The president has also made clear time and time again that he’s not going to project what those actions will be, and he’s not going to take anything off the table.
But I think Iran is kidding itself if they don’t realise there’s a new president in town.”
