UPDATE 1130 GMT: President Hassan Rouhani has warned the US of a “mother of all wars”.

Continuing his recent shift to tough rhetoric against the US, Rouhani told ambassadors and diplomats, “The Americans should learn well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” addressed the US President:

Today, speaking with US has no meaning except surrender and end of people’s achievements. Mr Trump! We are the people of dignity and guarantor of security of the waterway of the region throughout the history. Don’t play with the lion’s tail; you will regret it.

Rouhani proclaimed an Iranian “strategic depth” from “the [Indian] Subcontinent to the east, and the Mediterranean to the west, the Red Sea to the south, and the Caucasus to the north”.

After the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal on May 8, Rouhani was under threat by hardliners, including the Supreme Leader’s office, but last month he adopted a harsher line against the US which matched Ayatollah Khamenei’s denunciation of Washington.

Rouhani marked the reconciliation on Sunday by praising the role of the Revolutionary Guards in protecting the country against enemy plots.


The Supreme Leader has threatened the oil exports of other countries, if US sanctions affect Iran’s own sales.

Addressing Iranian ambassadors and diplomats in Tehran on Saturday, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to a similar statement earlier this month by President Hassan Rouhani as “important” and emphasized that the Foreign Ministry should take “adequate measures” if needed.

Khamenei’s official website drives home the message: “If Iran’s Oil Export is Blocked, No Other Country in Region Will Export Oil Either” and quoted the Supreme Leader:

The remarks made by the President in his recent trip to Europe stating that, ‘if Iran’s oil export is blocked, no other country is region can export oil either,’ are important remarks that represent the approach and policies of the establishment. The duty of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to strictly pursue stances taken by the President.

It was unclear if Khamenei was also endorsing a threat by Iranian military commanders to block movement of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, at the top of the Persian Gulf.

Revolutionary Guards commmander Mohammad Ali Jafari recently said, “We will make the enemy understand that either everyone can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one.” However, former Guards naval commander Hossein Alaei cautioned that the warning is “not well thought out”: “Iran is unable to close the Strait of Hormuz, but America is capable of reopening it.”

The Supreme Leader also spoke of the Rouhani Government’s efforts to prevent collapse of a fragile Iranian economy through trade and investment links with European countries, following the Trump Administration’s May 8 withdrawal from the July 2015 nuclear deal and the expansion of US sanctions.

Khamenei backed the continuation of efforts, but put the priority on his vague declaration of a “Resistance Economy” for self-sufficiency.

The European Union and the three European signatories of the nuclear agreement — the UK, France, and Germany — have maintained political support for the agreement. The EU has also tried to shield European companies from US punishment, but has been limited with major firms by the scale of the American threat.

Leading European firms such as the French energy giant Total, Airbus, the French auto manufacturer PSA, Germany’s Siemens, the world’s largest shipper Maersk, and the airlines Air France and KLM have already suspended business with Tehran.