The White House blamed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for recent escalations with President Donald Trump, as it said Trump's tweet showed he would not tolerate criticism from Iran. Washington did not want to escalate tensions between the two countries, according to a WH official.
Meanwhile, WH Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that the President has been pretty strong, since day one, in his language towards Iran, adding that in his tweet, Trump was responding to comments made from Tehran, and he’s going to continue to focus on the safety and security of US citizens.
“I’m not going to negotiate what the specifics that the President or the administration will be looking at. Again, our goal is to stop Iran from nuclear weapons, and we’ll keep you posted as we move through that process,” Sanders asserted.
The Press Secretary did not explain whether Trump discussed the tweet with his national security team.
National security adviser John Bolton on Monday doubled down on Trump's tweet directed at the Iranian regime.
“I spoke to the President over the last several days, and President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before," Bolton said in a statement.
Analysts have ruled out that the fiery exchange signals a confrontation of any form, expecting the Iranian regime to walk back its threats and that economic sanctions will reduce its ability to foment trouble or chaos in countries in the region. They also don’t believe Tehran regime will shut down any strait or marine crossings.
Fox News Senior Political Analyst, Brit Hume said that the sanctions that the United States has imposed on Iran have discouraged other countries from doing business with it.
“Their economy is in very serious trouble, their currency has been drastically weakened, and there’d been demonstrations in the streets now, mounting over time. The regime is becoming increasingly unpopular,” he added.
Head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Mark Dubowitz called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks a “powerful indictment of a corrupt and repressive regime”, and suggested that US support will help lead to the demise of the theocratic government.
“The demand of Iranians for freedom and democracy will leave the Islamic Republic on the ash heap of history as it left the Soviet Union,” said Dubowitz who is also leading critic of Iran and the 2015 nuclear deal.
