by WorldTribune Staff, December 12, 2016
Death and destruction to Iran’s neighbors will be the result if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies lead to war in the Middle East, Iran’s defense minister said on Dec. 11.
“Enemies may want to impose a war on us based on false calculations and only taking into consideration their material capabilities. Such a war would mean the destruction of the Zionist regime (Israel) … and will engulf the whole region and could lead to a world war,” Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan warned, according to Reuters.
“Among other consequences of the war, would be the destruction of the city-states on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, because they lack popular support,” he added, referring to small Western-allied Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
Trump has called the nuclear deal Iran signed with Western powers last year a “disaster,” and has vowed to scrap it or revamp it.
“Considering Trump’s character and that he measures the cost of everything in dollars, it does not seem likely that he would take strong action against our country,” Dehgan said.
“Even though a businessman, the assistants that … (Trump) has chosen may map a different path for him, and this has led to unease, particularly among Persian Gulf countries.”
Regardless of Trump’s intentions with regards to the nuclear agreement, Iran continues to threaten Israel. Last month, a senior Iranian military commander predicted that Palestinian Arabs would “get rid of Israel” in the next 10 years.
In May, a senior Iranian military commander threatened Israel and claimed that his country can destroy the Jewish state “in less than eight minutes.”
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has referred to Israel as a “cancer” and in the past threatened to “annihilate” the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa.