TEHRAN – Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said on Friday that U.S. misdemeanors against Iran will not remain “unanswered”.

Addressing worshippers in Tehran, Khatami said Iran succeeded in foiling U.S. plots to draw up a new Middle East, Mehr reported.

Commenting on the U.S. move to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero, the cleric said, “U.S. officials should know that Iran will produce oil as much as it wants.”

The U.S. is struggling with crises and “we are dealing with a madman who would take ten steps forward if we take one step back,” said Khatami in reference to U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The Iranian nation will hit this madman’s head to the rock,” he added.

He went on to say that under the current circumstances, holding talks with the Trump administration is as good as surrendering.

He emphasized that the Iranian nation will not be humiliated.

Khatami pointed to Trump’s threats against Iran, saying such threats have become “threadbare” and will not move the Iranian nation.

He also pointed to U.S. designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, saying the move unified the Iranian nation and increased the IRGC’s popularity.

“The U.S. labeled the Guards a terrorist group during the peak of the Guards’ popularity and while the armed forces and the Guards were helping the people in the floods,” the cleric added.

MH/PA