As the war between Israel and Iran continues, the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has warned the US against joining Israeli strikes on his country.
According to him, such action would result in irreparable consequences for the US.
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The country’s leader issued this warning on Wednesday in response to President Donald Trump’s previous announcement that the US was considering joining the war.
Mr Trump had previously said his patience “has already run out” with Tehran, and asked the country for an unconditional surrender to end the war.
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While the US president has not made a final decision on whether the US would get involved, he held a Situation Room meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss US options.
Mr Trump has been sharing cryptic messages on joining the war since last week.
While speaking to journalists at the White House on Wednesday, about joining the war against Iran, Mr Trump said, “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
But Iran’s Khamenei, who made a series of posts on X, indicated that those who know Iran, “know that Iranians do not answer well to the language of threat.”
The US president had also alleged that Iranian officials initiated contact and expressed interest in a White House visit, a statement Iran denies.
“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader,” the Iranian mission at the United Nations said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Iran has gone from 224 to over 240. This figure also includes about 70 women and children. About 24 people have been confirmed dead in Israel.
The war between Iran and Israel has been ongoing for a week and is set to run into the second week.
The war commenced last Friday after Israel launched an attack on Iran, which it said was to stop the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the strike came just two days before Iran was expected to resume nuclear talks with the United States. Many countries, including Nigeria, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, condemned the Israeli attacks and called for dialogue.
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Israel, however, insists that the attack on Iran was necessary to prevent it from getting any closer to building a nuclear weapon. However, Israel has been claiming that Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon since the 1980s despite Iranian denials.
Also, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi has said there was no evidence suggesting that Iran is actively working to develop nuclear weapons.
The nuclear watchdog, however, said Iran was non-compliant with international safeguards of its nuclear programme.
During an interview with Al Jazeera, Mr Grossi said, “We did not find in Iran elements to indicate that there is an active, systematic plan to build a nuclear weapon.”
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