“We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote,” the White House stated.
President Donald Trump stated that Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, has fallen victim to the “evil” it promotes and is essentially responsible for terrorism within its borders.
Trump made the remarks following two terror attacks, perpetrated by the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, which struck at the Iranian parliament and the shrine of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, in which 13 were killed and some 50 were wounded.
“We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote,” the White House said in a statement.
To the people of Iran, the White House stated that “we grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times.”
The US has designated the Islamic republic of Iran a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984.
In November 2016, 11 Arab countries condemned Iran for sponsoring “terrorism” in the region, particularly in Yemen where they said Tehran is supporting the Houthi rebels financially and militarily by training their fighters and illegally sending them weapons and ammunition.
Speaking in Saudi Arabia last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to end Iran’s role in supporting “destabilizing forces that exist in this region.”
In both attacks, suicide bombers blew themselves up. Suicide bomber terrorism was invented by Iran.
‘Repugnant’ White House Remarks
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the statement “repugnant.”
He tweeted that the White House makes “repugnant” statements and the Senate passes sanctions on the Islamic Republic, while Iranians “counter terror backed by US clients.”
“Iranian people reject such US claims of friendship,” he said.
The Iranians have long claimed that ISIS is a US creation, supported and financed by Saudi Arabia, a “US client.”
Zarif was also relating to the Senate which acted in a procedural vote to move forward on a new set of sanctions on Iran, including its elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), shortly after the attacks. The strong bipartisan vote was 92-7.
The bill would impose mandatory sanctions on people involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The measure also would apply terrorism sanctions to the country’s Revolutionary Guards and enforce an arms embargo.
US State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert stated after the attack that the US “condemns” the terrorist attacks.
“We express our condolences to the victims and their families, and send our thoughts and prayers to the people of Iran. The depravity of terrorism has no place in a peaceful, civilized world,” the statement read.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News