Trump’s tweet, an attempt to escape US internal problems

London, July 24, IRNA - Former British Ambassador in Washington said that US recent irascible tweet on Iran was an attempt to change the political narrative at home where he is under attack for his handling of relations with President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin. Speaking to IRNA, Peter Westmacott added that Trump’s remarks seems to have been prompted by a speech by President Rouhani in which the latter did not threaten the US but cautioned against ‘pulling the lion’s tail’ and noted that peace with Iran was ‘the mother of all peace’ while war with Iran would be ‘the mother of all wars’. Donald Trump, in a new tweet on Monday (July 23), reacted to recent remarks by President Hassan Rouhani of Iran who had warned Washington against taking a hostile approach towards Iran. He chose capital letters to convey his message, something which well demonstrated his fury at what President Rouhani said on Sunday in a reference to the US hostile approach towards Iran: 'Do not play with fire.' Westmacott added that many Americans find it hard to view relations with Iran other than through the prism of blindfolded US diplomats being paraded as hostages in 1979 and the hostility of the Iranian government towards Israel. However, according to Westmacott, they forget that it wasn’t Iranians who conducted the 9/11 attack; that Tehran was the one Middle Eastern capital where spontaneous vigils were held for the victims of that atrocity and that Iran fought against rather than supported ISIS. The British figure cited that Iranians have legitimate grievances of their own, most recently Trump’s decision to abandon the JCPOA despite full compliance by the Iranian side. Meanwhile he added many regional governments which have become friendly towards Donald Trump are busy fueling tensions between Iran and the US for their own reasons. Westmacott concluded that there need to be a concerted effort to calm the situation, identify common interests, and work urgently together to find solutions to the numerous regional crises, starting with the humanitarian disasters in Syria and Yemen. The risk otherwise is that even a small spark could set off a conflagration. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in his latest message reacted to Trump's baseless allegations and threats against Iran saying “COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them —albeit more civilized ones—for 40 yrs. We’ve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!' Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish