TEHRAN - Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a veteran lawmaker who served as deputy foreign minister in the 1980 and 1990s, has said that Iran has many military capabilities and there is zero possibility that United States start a war on Iran.

“Today, the U.S. is aware of our military capabilities. We gained victory during the eight years of war [Iran-Iraq 1980-1988] despite all the Western countries’ supports for Iraq. We have achieved many advances. If the U.S. aircraft carrier makes a mistake, it will definitely be drowned by our precision-guided missiles,” he told the Arabic language Al-Alam news network in an interview aired on Sunday.

He noted that economies of the U.S. and Europe are intertwined with economy of the Middle East and the U.S. officials are not so “unwise” to start a war.

“War with Iran is playing with fire and it will burn all and not just Iran,” MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi warns.
“War with Iran is playing with fire and it will burn all and not just Iran,” added Alaeddin Boroujerdi who chaired the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee for many years.

Reportedly, the U.S. is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton claimed on Sunday that the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the U.S. Central Command region was a response “to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” by Iran.

‘It’s time for Iran to review policies on nuclear deal’

Boroujerdi also said that it is time for Iran to review policies on the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The U.S. quit the JCPOA and violated its commitments; and Europe has adopted a selective approach, so the government should not act in a conservative way because a revolutionary government should not act in this way. We should take retaliatory action,” the veteran lawmaker suggested.

He also described the U.S. efforts to reduce Iran’s oil sale to zero as a “political” and “psychological warfare”.

U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally and illegally pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and ordered reimposition of sanctions against Iran. The first round of sanctions went into force on August 6 and the second round, which targets Iran’s oil exports and banks, were snapped back on November 4.

In November, the U.S. allowed sanctions waivers for a few countries including China, India and Turkey to continue importing oil from Iran, however it announced on April 22 that if any country that buys oil from Iran will be sanctioned.

The U.S. State Department also announced on Friday that Washington will not renew two of sanctions waivers which allowed Russia and the European nations to do business with Tehran. One of the two waivers allowed Iran to store excess heavy water produced in the uranium enrichment process in Oman. The other one allowed Iran to swap enriched uranium for raw yellowcake with Russia.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday that the U.S. is seeking to sow “international confusion” by taking harsh sanctions measures against Iran.

Larijani also said the U.S. administration’s actions against Iran shows that Washington is in a state of “confusion”.

President Hassan Rouhani also said on Saturday that the U.S. has launched “war on hope” by tightening sanctions measures against Iran.

NA/PA