- The Iranian president said Iran does not need permission to develop their militaristic capabilities
- Rouhani says Iran determined to expand its military power and ballistic missile program
WASHINGTON: Iran’s Islamic revolution four decades ago has been a complete failure for the country, President Donald Trump said Monday.
In a tweet written on the anniversary of the upheaval that was also sent out in Farsi, Trump said: “40 years of corruption. 40 years of repression. 40 years of terror. The regime in Iran has produced only #40YearsofFailure.
“The long-suffering Iranian people deserve a much brighter future,” he added.
Earlier, Trump’s chief foreign policy adviser John Bolton issued a similar statement, tweeting that “it’s been 40 yrs of failure. Now it’s up to the Iranian regime to change its behavior, & ultimately up to the Iranian people to determine the direction of their country.”
Bolton said Washington would support “the will of the Iranian people, & stand behind them to ensure their voices are heard.”
Bolton, a leading hawk in the Trump administration’s attempt to weaken Iranian influence, was tweeting as a huge crowd in Tehran gathered to celebrate the 1979 revolution, in which Muslim leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini ended the centuries-old rule of the royal dynasty.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Iranians they should resist a “conspiracy” involving Washington.
Rouhani also vowed Iran would defeat US sanctions, reimposed after Trump withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear accord with world powers last year. “The Iranian people have and will have some economic difficulties (due to the sanctions) but we will overcome the problems by helping each other,” Rouhani said.
The Trump administration has pushed hard to weaken Iran and what it says is Tehran’s “destabilizing” influence.
The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, and Trump has pulled the United States from an international agreement meant to reward Iran for giving up nuclear weapon ambitions.