Iran President Ebrahim Raisi warns US, allies against committing 'mistakes' in country

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a stern warning to the US and its allies while stating that any "mistakes" made by them to trigger a crisis in the country will be met with a "decisive" response from Tehran, which, they would later regret. While addressing a gathering of Kermanshah residents at the Imam Khomeini (RA) Stadium, Raisi stated, “Let me tell the Americans and their allies in the region that the great nation of Iran does not accept any insecurity and crisis in the region, and committing any mistake in this region will be responded with a decisive and regrettable response," according to a statement from the Iranian government.  

According to Ebrahim Raisi, in Iran, some countries are transiting insecurity and terrorism from the West and the United States. The Iranian President further emphasised that the interference of "outsiders and Americans" in the region has no consequence other than generating instability and insecurity" and defined Iran's military might, capabilities, and authority in the region as "security-building", as per the statement.  

Iran signed the JCPOA

Furthermore, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's remarks came immediately after US President Joe Biden's recent visit to the region, which included stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, both of which are adversaries of Iran, ANI reported. 

In exchange for the lifting of sanctions, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme when it signed the JCPOA or the Iran nuclear deal with major world powers in July 2015. However, former US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the accord in May 2018 and reinstituted unilateral sanctions against Iran, which prompted the latter to compromise on some of its treaty obligations. 

Even though the negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement began in Vienna in April 2021, they were put on hold in March of this year due to a political rift between Tehran and Washington. According to the ANI report, the discussions recently resumed in Doha, the capital of Qatar, after a three-month break, but no agreement to resolve the outstanding issues was reached. 

Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden indicated on Thursday that the United States is "not going to wait forever" for Iran to rejoin the dormant nuclear accord. Biden made these comments a day after stating that he would be ready to use force against Tehran as the last option, Associated Press reported.

Biden stated that the United States had spelt out for the Iranian leadership a way to return to the nuclear accord and was still awaiting a response during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, following private discussions regarding Iran's quickly developing nuclear programme. Biden maintained optimism that Iran might be convinced to rejoin the pact even as he hinted that his tolerance for them has been wearing thin. 

(Image: AP)