Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said Donald Trump is “100% right” in that the US military has no business in the Perisan Gulf, after Trump questioned whether they needed to maintain such a strong presence in the region.
Tweeting in rare agreement after Trump announced a new round of sanctions against Tehran, Zarif said that removal of US forces would be “fully in line” with the interests of the US and the world.
“We don’t even need to be there,” Trump said, arguing that because of the US’ own increased energy production, there was no reason it should protect ships belonging to other countries for free. They “should be protecting their own ships,”Trump’s tweet said.
Zarif’s comments came just hours after Trump signed an executive order imposing a new round of “strong sanctions” in response to Tehran’s downing of a US drone last week. Zarif himself will also be targeted in another round of sanctions later this week, according to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN said on Monday that Tehran will not engage in dialogue with Washington while it is under threat of more sanctions and said the latest measures show the US has no respect for international law and order.