Iran’s ambassador to the United Kingdom has used an exclusive interview with Sky News to issue a stark warning about the prospect of war in the Middle East.
“Don’t test us” was the message from Hamid Baeidinejad in the wake of escalating sabre rattling from Donald Trump’s administration. With America threatening to send 120,000 troops to the region, the ambassador broke his silence to spell out his country’s readiness for war in his first ever interview with a British television channel.
“While we have renounced any escalation in the region, I would assure you that Iranian armed forces are fully ready for any eventuality in the region, so they should not try to test the determination of Iran to confront any escalation in the region,” he said.
He was speaking the day after Iran was blamed by some for mysterious sabotage attacks on tankers in the Persian Gulf and on the day of reported drone attacks on a Saudi oil pipeline.
But the ambassador told Sky News he believed his country was being wrongly framed for the attacks and not for the first time.
“We totally reject this,” he said. “It is very suspicious to us and we hope an international fact finding mission could really find the reasons for these sabotages which are really suspicious to us.”
In contrast to their US counterparts, Iranian diplomats seldom give interviews. The fact that Mr Baeidinejad has done so now speaks volumes. His government will be worried by both the increasing belligerence of Trump’s administration and the Europeans’ failure to keep their side of the nuclear bargain.
Baeidinejad is one of his country’s most seasoned diplomats. He was one of the key Iranian negotiators in the nuclear talks. He will have chosen his words carefully, making his warning all the more striking. His comments come the day after President Trump warned Iran that “if they do anything, they will suffer greatly”.
But the Iranian ambassador told Sky News his government did not believe Trump was serious about threatening war. “I think part of this is theatrical manoeuvres by the US,” he said. “Our analysis is they, (or) at least President Trump, doesn’t want to engage in military confrontation with Iran because of how costly it will be for the US and for the region.”