Trump won’t destroy Iran – Khamenei

US warships deployed to the Persian Gulf will not intimidate Tehran and could ultimately sink, the supreme leader has warned

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rebuked US President Donald Trump’s remarks on “regime change” in Tehran, stating the American leader will not succeed in destroying the country, just as his predecessors failed before him.

While the US has been pressing Iran into abandoning its nuclear program and adopting a “zero enrichment” policy, Tehran has insisted such activities are its inherent right.

Last week, as a sizeable US military force gathered in the Persian Gulf, Trump said regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”

In a televised speech on Tuesday, when representatives of Washington and Tehran met for nuclear talks in Geneva, Khamenei declared that the US will not succeed in its effort to destroy the country.

“In one of his recent speeches, the US president said that for 47 years America has not succeeded in destroying the Islamic Republic… I tell you: You will not succeed either,” Khamenei stated.

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Attempts to intimidate Iran into submission will not succeed either, the supreme leader warned, suggesting the additional naval assets deployed by Washington to the region could themselves become the target. “A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it,” he said.  

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have run high since last June, when the US bombed the country’s nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Washington has deployed additional naval and air assets to the Middle East, including a second aircraft carrier. The US leadership has repeatedly threatened Iran with military action and openly backed violent unrest that gripped the country in late December and early January, triggered by a plummeting national currency and soaring inflation. 

At the same time, the two sides have been engaged in indirect talks in Oman, with Iran calling the contacts a “good start.” Iran’s top officials have repeatedly signaled the country is interested in striking a “fair and equitable deal” over its nuclear program with the US, indicating readiness to scale back uranium enrichment and to dilute existing stockpiles in exchange for sanctions relief. Washington, however, has insisted Iran must scrap its nuclear program altogether.