The days of pallets of cash are over.
Via Daily Mail:
President Donald Trump has issued a dire warning to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, escalating a war of words over looming sanctions against Tehran.
Rouhani had warned Trump not to ‘play with the lion’s tail’ before Trump let rip on Twitter late on Sunday night, saying: ‘To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.’
‘WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!’
But that only prompted Iran to further goad Trump, calling his reaction ‘passive’ and accusing him of copying Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who in the past has warned the West to ‘never threaten an Iranian.’
Gen. Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, the chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s volunteer Basij force, added that Trump ‘won’t dare’ attack Iran.
The general added that Trump’s tweet amounts to nothing more than ‘psychological warfare’ adding: ‘We will never abandon our revolutionary beliefs.
‘We will resist pressure from enemies… America wants nothing less than (to) destroy Iran … (but) Trump cannot do a damn thing against Iran.’
Rouhani had earlier warned America that ‘Iran is the mother of all peace’ before adding that ‘war with Iran is the mother of all wars’.
‘Don’t play with fire, or you will regret [it],’ he continued. ‘Iranian people are the master and they will never bow to anyone.’
Rouhani warned against any US attempt to destabilize the country by encouraging protests, saying: ‘You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests.’
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted at such efforts on Sunday, promising unspecified backing for Iranian dissents as he referred to the country’s leaders as a ‘mafia’.
Pompeo, in a California speech to a largely Iranian-American audience, dismissed Rouhani and his top ministers as ‘merely polished front men for the ayatollahs’ international con artistry.’
Iran ‘is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government,’ Pompeo said, citing what he called Iranian leaders’ vast wealth and corruption.