Iran Press/Iran news: "If the US wants to enter Strait of Hormuz, they have to talk to those protecting it, and that is the Iranian Revolutionary Guards," Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday during his speech at the Asia Society.
“We believe that Iran will continue to sell its oil. We will continue to find buyers for our oil and we will continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as a safe transit passage for the sale of our oil,” Zarif added.
“If the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for the consequences,” he said.
When asked if the US pressure campaign on Tehran was aimed at sparking further negotiations or regime change, Zarif said: “The B team wants regime change at the very least.” He described the B Team as including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton.
“We’re allergic to pressure,” he said, adding in a message to the Trump administration: “Try the language of respect, it won’t kill you, believe me.”
Zarif also said that Iran had told the US administration six months ago that it was open to a prisoner swap deal, but had not yet received a response.
“All these people that are in prison inside the United States ... we believe their charges are phony. The United States believes the charges against these people in Iran are phony. Let’s not discuss that,” he said.
“Let’s have an exchange. I’m ready to do it and I have authority to do it,” Zarif said.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister in a tweet warned US President Donald Trump against stupid interventions.
'You continue to do the same at State @SecPompeo. But be careful @realDonaldTrump. You campaigned against costly stupid interventions,' Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in his Twitter account on Wednesday.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has said it seeks to stop Iranian oil sales by imposing sanctions on countries that continue purchasing Iranian crude after May 1.
In May last year, Washington unilaterally withdrew from a multilateral deal with Iran that mainly guarantees Iran’s oil sales in return for a number of concessions by Iran and the lifting of US sanctions on the country.
Tehran and the other parties to the deal, including European countries, have remained in the deal. 101
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RGC Commander: Revolution Guards preserve security of the Strait of Hormuz
