Zarif: I am confident that we will not start one but I am confident that whoever starts one will not be the one who finishes it

Iranian foreign minister said that his country will not initiate any war but should anyone attack it, we will defend ourselves with all of our capability.

Iran PressAmerica: In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who has traveled to the US to participate in 74th UNGA in New York said that Iran has repeatedly warned that If the US initiates any war, it will not be the one who terminates it.

"I'm confident that we will not start one [war], but I'm confident that whoever starts one will not be the one who finishes it" he said.

Iran's FM also mentioned: "The US threatens Iran with a military strike, because they fall into the habit of saying that 'all options are on the table', but I assure you that if anyone attacks Iran, we will defend ourselves and that means that there won't be a limited war."

Zarif denied that Iran had anything to do with the attack to the Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia and said he was confident Iran played no role in the attack and described the US decision to send troops to bolster Saudi air defence as unhelpful posturing.

“I'm confident that Iran did not play a role. We are confident that if the United Nations carries out an impartial investigation the outcome will be that it was not launched from Iran," Zarif remarked.

Asked about shooting down a US drone, Iranian FM rejected some claims about the flying of the drone on the international space and added that we sent a note to Americans through the Swiss embassy; it is clear that the drone was in Iranian territories.  

Zarif also did not rule out the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. 

"We are prepared, if President Trump is serious about permanent for permanent. Permanent, Iran was never a nuclear weapons state, but permanent denuclearization as they like to hear it," said Zarif.

"The olive branch has always been on the table, but we are showing it again," he added.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday the Islamic Republic would lay out a peace initiative for the region at the United Nations General Assembly that would involve a coalition of regional and foreign countries.

Zarif also mentioned Iran's military drills with Russia and China in the near future in the Persian Gulf and said Russia and China would be welcome too as Iran sought international support in countering a U.S. led anti-Iran campaign. The drills is against no one in the region and is not for conflict.

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